Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer
by Andy Wong Fey Hong
Summary: The Reapers are coming. Or have they already? And what plans do they have for their hated foe Commander Shepard, and all of his allies? Shepard's loyalty mission as he deals with the ghosts of his past, one which is Ashley Williams
1. Prologue

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer**

Name : Commander Setsuna Shepard

Background : Earthborn

Reputation : Sole survivor

Mass Effect 1 decisions : a) Saved Council

b) Wrex survived

c) Ashley Williams as love interest

d) Kaidan Alenko was killed in action on Virmire

e) Followed Paragon path mainly

Mass Effect 2 decisions : a) Destroyed Collector base and broke ties with Cerberus

b) All team members survived

c) No love interest in ME2 (loyal to Ashley)

d) Followed Paragon path mainly

e) Retained Spectre Status

f) Preserved heretic Geth

Prologue

Deep underground, in a cavernous chamber that was as large as an American football field, a dark congregation of numerous red hooded figures was gathered. The chamber seemed to be modelled on the Franco-gothic architecture that was once common in the Catholic cathedrals of France.

Eerie red lights glowed from the chandeliers which illuminated the chamber. Also suspended in the air twenty feet above the congregation, were hundreds of candles. It looked as though it were held up by magic but most could see the tell tale sign of mass effect generators holding the candles up in the air, the occasional crackle of blue Eezo interrupting the red twilight emanating from the candles.

The air appeared to be intoxicating the congregation. All of them were murmuring incoherently, apparently in prayer. A few of them had fallen to the ground, screaming unintelligibly as though possessed. The rest of them ignored them even as froth dribbled from their mouths and their spasms resulted in them traumatising their own bodies, banging their heads and other parts against the hard stone floor.

It was a strange and horrible sight, even blasphemous to many religions of Earth. And if the congregations strange worship was not enough to convince one that it was an evil cult, the writing on the wall was literal in that cathedral.

Every inch of the walls except for one where a stage was situated, was covered in writhing bodies. At first glance, the bodies looked human. But in fact, the bodies only WERE human. They looked like they were stuck on the walls like flies but unable to escape beyond a few pitiful movements with their fingers and bodies. And then there was the moaning; the ghostly horrible moaning of all of them which rivalled that of the mad worship of the congregation.

And then the congregations worship stopped. Those who behaved possessed ceased their movements, the life slowly ebbing from their bodies as their numerous wounds continued to bleed. But strangely enough, the ground seemed to absorb the blood and the rest of the worshippers gave them a respectful space.

There was a stone stage at the end of the cathedral. It was raised high in the air for the entire congregation to see. Powerful mass effect fields held it floating there. To reach it, there were stone steps leading up to it, one group forming stairs to the centre of the stage. Red hooded figures lined the sides of the steps and in front of it, preventing the rest of the congregation to climb the steps. These ones guarding the steps were different: in addition to the red robes and hood which obscured their faces, each wore military grade armour with a deep blood red tint, and were heavily armed with Predator Hand cannons and Avenger Assault rifles. But what was also strange was that some of the guards were not human. In fact, from the body structure of half the guards guarding one side of the stairs, they were in fact Turian.

The reason for this was apparent at the mural which adorned the wall behind the stage. It was an elaborate picture of the former traitor Turian Spectre, Saren Arterius. But it was not the image of an organic Turian who was once the epitome of brutal efficiency in Council Space. It wasn't even the image of Saren when he had succumbed to the implants bestowed upon him by Sovereign to upgrade his strength and resolve.

It was that of the final form of Saren, stripped of his organic flesh and replaced with what could only be described as a Turian husk. A husk which crackled with mysterious red energy courtesy of Sovereign, because the husk WAS Sovereign. The husk of Saren Arterius was standing on what looked like the former Citadel Tower, seemingly in a re-enactment of the Battle of the Citadel only a few years earlier. However instead of Sovereign, it was a gargantuan Saren husk which was perched on the Citadel Tower. The husk was surrounded by burning ships of the Citadel fleet as well as that of the Alliance Fifth Fleet, some of which were firing at it. But its ghostly expression ignored them as though they were beneath its attention and instead, its gaze was upwards to the cosmos, both its hands reaching for the sky in worship.

And those hands were grasped by something alien and far larger, a form which filled out the entire upper half of the mural. And the mural was actually coming alive, the lines of paint detailing the mural crackling with the same unholy energy that had engulfed Saren at the Battle of the Citadel. The appearance of this unholy energy was what had caused the congregation to pause in its mad worship.

"_**AND HIS NAME WAS SAREN, THE ONE TRUE PROPHET OF GOD! THE ONE WHO WILL LEAD US TO TRUE SALVATION! THE ONES WHICH ALL THE PROPHETS OF OLD PREDICTED WOULD COME TO CLEANSE THE GALAXY OF THE FILTH THAT IS ALIEN AND THOSE WHO WOULD CONSORT WITH THEM!"**_

The crowd screamed, partly in terror but also in joy. For the one who spoke had just simply appeared on stage.

There was no smoke or grand entrance, he had just appeared and yet he had been able to capture their attentions the moment he spoke. He wore the same red robes but was not hooded. The man under the hood seemed to be normal, a white Caucassian man speaking with a New York accent with a touch of Brooklyn. He appeared aged, his thick black hair streaked with white, the hair on the side of his head completely so. A short white goatee stuck out from beneath his chin. His eyes were blue and somehow these shone brightly in the red twilight spectrum of the cathedral. His hands held apart his robes which showed a smart business suit no different from any other average working man on Earth who worked in an office.

In short, he looked like a completely normal human save for the fact that he was preaching to a congregation which worshipped humanity's worst enemy at one time. There was also the fact that when he spoke, the voice thundered throughout the cathedral and there was no sign of technology helping to amplify his voice.

"_**IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GLORIOUS! WE WOULD FINALLY BE ONE WITH GOD! ONE WITH THE TRUE MASTER OF MANKIND! FREE FROM THE SINS OF THE FLESH, FREE FROM BONDAGE OF OUR EARTHLY MASTERS! FREE MY FRIENDS, FROM THE SINS OF MAN!"**_

"_**IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GLORIOUS! A WORLD WHERE ALL ARE EQUAL! WHERE WE CAN FINALLY BE TRULY FREE IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD!"**_

"_**AND THE MOST HOLY FATHER SAW FIT TO GIVE US THE TRUE PROPHET! AND BY HIS DESIGN AND GRACE, IT WAS SAREN ARTERIUS! AN ALIEN! A TURIAN! OH HOW IT TORE MY HEART WHEN I REALISED IT WAS HIM! IT COULD NOT BE TRUE! HOW COULD THE SAVIOUR OF HUMANITY BY A DAMNED ALIEN!"**_

The preacher paused gathering his breath for his next point

"_**BUT THE WAYS OF OUR LORD ARE MYSTERIOUS INDEED. AND IN HIS EVERLASTING GRACE AND LOVE, HE OPENED MY MIND! I SOUGHT OUT SAREN, SOUGHT HIS TEMPLE. AND MY CHILDREN WHAT A TEMPLE IT IS! WHAT A TEMPLE INDEED. IN THAT TEMPLE, I WAS CLEANSED. IN THAT TEMPLE, MY EYES WERE OPENED. IN THAT TEMPLE I SAW GOD AND HIS NAME WAS NOT YAHWEH, THE GOD OF THE BLASPHEMOUS JEWS."**_

"_**IT WAS SOVEREIGN!"**_

The congregation broke into madness, resuming their worship and jubilation. Even those who were nearly dead on the ground began to move again, although there was something strange about their movements, it was not as random or strong as it once was.

"_**BUT WE WERE DENIED THE LIGHT OF SOVEREIGN! THE GOD THAT PROMISED US SALVATION AND GRACE! THE SALVATION THAT WOULD END ALL SUFFERING, FINALLY TEARING DOWN THE VEIL WHICH SEPARATED US FROM OUR LORD WHEN ADAM AND EVE SINNED! THE VEIL SUPPOSEDLY TORN BY THE FALSE PROPHET TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO! A PROPHET WE WERE CONNED TO BELIEVED WAS THE ONLY TRUTH, THE LIGHT AND THE WAY!"**_

His voice was now softer.

"_**And now a new dark age has fallen. Armageddon is at hand. The galaxy is a cesspool of darkness. Humanity is now a slave to aliens, the stooge of the blasphemers known as the Citadel Council. The aliens now live on our very own soil of Earth, even in the Mount Sinai where Moses walked long ago, I see Asari, Salarians, Turians, EVEN BATARIANS!"**_

"_**Who made this possible? Who stopped our prophet from delivering us to salvation! Who, Who, WHO FORCED THIS ARMAGEDDON ON US!"**_

As if on cue, the whole congregation shouted their most hated name.

"SHEPARD!"

"_**Yes, SHEPARD! Another false prophet, a false hero that our ignorant brothers of humanity have come to trust and worship. Beware my friends, for he truly carries the sign of the Beast, the one who will deceive the world, promising salvation but in the end offering damnation! Against this false hero we must steel our hearts. But not only that. The time of passivity is over my friends! It is time to take action! It is time to plan! It is time to take arms! It is time to smite our enemies!"**_

The congregation erupted again in a fanatic display of joy.

"_**Never fear, never doubt my flock! The lord our god is with us! He is guiding me and by his grace, I swear I will lead you as well. Look to your cell leaders. Look to the priests of whom I was humbly selected to lead. But most of all, look inwards in yourselves, for in you a hero shall arise to smite even one such as Shepard!"**_

Suddenly the preacher stopped, as though he had seen something strange in the congregation but could not pinpoint where it was.

"_**See even now in our glorious worship, the enemy lies in wait, seeking the chance to sow discord and skew our true faith! An enemy in league with the beast that is Shepard, who is the hidden army of Armageddon. INFIDEL!"**_

He suddenly pointed and to the wonder of the entire congregation but one, red energy sizzled around the arm instead of the normal blue eezo which powered biotics. The red energy beam arced out like a lightning beam and struck out into the middle of the congregation into one man. The man screamed not only when the energy struck him but also when all of the surrounding congregation suddenly pounced on him, enraged that a non-believer had infiltrated their ranks.

The man was almost literally torn apart by the mob of furious cultists before the preacher's voice boomed, _**"Enough! Bring him to me! Even the lord can be generous to his enemies!"**_

Those immediately assaulting the men ceased their actions, then picked up the nearly dead man. Slowly he was passed along until he was finally handed to the guards at the base of the floating stairs. Two of the guards took hold of one end of the body and carried it up the steps, eventually placing him at the preacher's feet. The preacher had an almost compassionate expression on his face. He knelt down in front of the broken man and propped his body up with his own hands. When he talked to the man, the other man's voice was also amplified.

"_**What is your name child? Why do you come to disturb this sacred place?" **_he asked gently, almost like admonishing a child for being where he should not be.

"_**Go to hell you sick bastard!" **_the man spat out. _**"Worshipping the Reapers… do you have any idea what you're doing?" **_

"_**The question my son, is do you have any idea of what YOU are doing? Denying the salvation and the inevitable coming of our lord? Don't you want to meet him and be accepted in his loving arms rather than be thrown into the lake of fire?"**_

In spite of his pain, the man laughed. _**"Even if I believe in God, which I don't, I'm not stupid enough to think he comes in the form of a giant calamari I like to eat with my spaghetti Marinara."**_

"BLASPHEMY! DESTROY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM! BURN HIM!" the congregation was enraged now. They were even starting to shove against the guards at the stone stairs, eager to exact justice on the perceived heathen.

The preacher held up his hand and calmed the crowd instantly. _**"No my children, we will not become like our enemies. We will not fall to the levels of the heathens who enslave or kill their own enemies simply because they do not believe in their lies. After all, what are the words of these heathen? He is damned is he not? Are you all so weak that we cannot ignore his words, blasphemous as they are, as beneath us?"**_

"NO! WE ARE THE CHOSEN! WE ARE TRANSCENDED! WE ARE BETTER THAN THE HEATHENS"

"_**Yes we are CHOSEN! We are saved by the prophet Saren! Who can stand against us! Who can stop our holy and divine mandate to bring the light of Saren to the universe! Who can deny the lord which this man stupidly calls Reapers to come cleanse this galaxy and bring us to his glory?" **_the preacher shouted.

A soft chuckling broke the fervour of the worship. Somehow, the voice of the dying man was still amplified.

"_**Isn't it obvious? Commander Shepard."**_

Silence struck the congregation. The man spoke the name with such conviction that it was as though their own preacher was speaking. Except this wasn't a religious fanatic. This was a man who knew the Hero of the Citadel and his deeds with enough confidence that this cult was nothing compared to what the Shepard had faced already.

Even the preacher was struck by his conviction but quickly compose himself. Bending low and speaking to the spy alone now, he said, "Too bad Shepard can't save you now heathen. And I let you know now that you will not die. You will be one of us whether you like it or not. The power of the lord's holy spirit was left behind and it will indoctrinate you to our cause. When you meet Shepard, you will be one of us and will rip him apart for the lord."

The broken man grinned, showing all of his shattered teeth. "Don't count on it."

At that moment, the man's right eye exploded and his body went limp. The preacher cursed himself for forgetting that the man probably had suicide countermeasures, in this case an ocular nerve flashbang, to make sure he wasn't taken alive. But he still smiled and took advantage of the situation. To the congregation, the man was limp but still twitching from his death. The preacher then took up the broken body in his hands.

"_**If Shepard is so powerful, how come one who exalts him so can be turned against him?" **_he said as he gave a hidden gesture to the guards. Three of them then carried a strange device, a flat disc which stood on a large tripod. The disc was large enough to lay part of a man's torso on it. The preacher placed the body on it, stepped away and started praying in an incoherent tongue.

All of a sudden, a huge spike protruded from the disc, impaling the body and carrying it high into the air.

"_**And the lord will bring salvation to the heathens, and all will be made clean in his eyes!"**_

To the wonderment of the congregation, blue energy crackled around the body. The clothes the man was wearing were burned off leaving his naked body. But the body was changing. Veins were sticking out but instead of those which carried blood, they looked like blue wires criss crossing his skin. His skin was also turning blue and also hardened to the point it looked like scales. The process continued until the body looked like the husks on the wall.

Then the spike went down, retracting into the disc leaving its host on it. The hole in the chest mended itself with blue metal and what used to be a man stood from the disc, reborn into a husk moaning its eternal damnation.

_**"NOW WE PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD'S NEW PROPHET! NOW WE WAIT FOR HIS VESSEL TO COME TO PAVE THE WAY TO HEAVEN AND SMITE THE BEAST THAT IS SHEPARD!"**_

_**"AND HIS NAME IS HARBRINGER!"**_

When the agent died using the hidden explosive inside his eye, so did the communications feed linking his visual data to the Illusive Man's terminal. The Cerberus leader was rarely moved by anything but even now he was beginning to feel vexed. This was the fourth operative he had lost investigating the cult that was rapidly spreading on Earth.

He didn't even know the location of their cathedral. The agent, like most of the congregation, had boarded a transport that somehow prevented him from locating the agent's location. The red hoods meant he didn't have much to go on with visual evidence. The only thing he knew for certain was that the cult's base was located underground and it was somewhere on planet Earth.

And now he had firm proof that this was not just a simple cult. Their preacher was charismatic and to date, defied all attempts at identification. Worst, they had the Reapers' indoctrination technology right on Earth and were using it to create some sort of local support for the Reapers.

This begged the question of how the Reapers were influencing the cult. The indoctrination technology was easy enough to come by, the Alliance had procured a large number of the _dragon's teeth _from the various Geth attacks which somehow went missing. But the preacher was displaying biotic abilities that was similar to the possessed Saren and still seem to retain most of his mind.

With the Collectors destroyed, this could only meant that the Reapers were coming, and they were coming soon. It also meant that they had not yet exhausted their supply of hidden agents in the Milky Way.

The Illusive Man pressed the bridge of his nose tiredly. Not for the first time, he wished Miranda Lawson was at his side. But his best and most loyal operative was no longer in his employment. She was Shepard's now, along with six billion credits worth of crew and equipment, including the Normandy SR2. The Illusive Man did not dwell too long on Shepard's breakaway though. He admitted to himself that he had accepted that Shepard would be Shepard and no way the Hero of the Citadel could ever be persuaded firmly to Cerberus cause. Hence the destruction of the Collector base.

Besides, Shepard had a point. The Normandy was ambushed while installing a Reaper IFF on it. There was no telling what would happen if Cerberus and humanity in general tried to use other Reaper technology. While it made sense to use the weapons of one's enemy against him, there was also the very real threat that said weapons could be disabled or otherwise manipulated by their true masters which would have made humanity even more vulnerable to the Reapers.

The Illusive Man cut the disrupted feed on his terminal and took a long drag at his terminal. His considerable efforts to infiltrate the cult had failed. Anymore spent would strain Cerberus' capabilities, already taxed to the max in their efforts to prepare for the coming Reaper invasion. He could no longer afford to risk anymore of his operatives. He needed them for other operations. This appeared to be an impossible task. And when an impossible task came up, there seem to be only one person in the galaxy who was capable of doing it.

The question was, would Shepard answer a call for help from a man he distrusted? More importantly, was it in the Illusive Man's best interest for Shepard to continue on his own path against the Reapers?

To be continued...

**Author's note**

This is something I envisioned a long time ago: Shepard's loyalty mission to put his ghosts to rest so that he can fight the Reapers with total conviction. This story will have multiple endings as well, such as if there was no Love Interest in ME1 but romanced Tali in ME2. For the moment, I want to take the challenge of having Ashley as LI in ME1.

Hope you guys will be along for the ride.


	2. Chapter 1: Ghosts of the Past

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (17/1/2011)**

Chapter 1: A Ghost from the Past

Commander Shepard was not a happy man. Being unhappy didn't even cut it. He was upset. He was angry. One might say he was almost hysterical.

But he hadn't come to this point without having some control of his emotions. In fact, he gave himself too little credit when it came to being a leader. To everyone on the Normandy, Shepard was the ultimate human hero, brave, stalwart, fearless and heroic in every sense of the word. However, few saw that the Hero of the Citadel was still human. Ironically, those who were most aware of this fact were actually not human at all.

"You really need a new hobby Shepard. I think killing mercs has grown too boring for either of us," Garrus Vakarian said as he chewed on a piece of Turian candy at the mess hall.

"I try to be civil. I try to be diplomatic. I try to get them honest to God evidence of the Reapers. I try to tell them that I've told the Illusive Man to kiss my ass goodbye. And what did they say?"

"_This information is too important to make a decision in haste_," he spoke with a girlish voice, miming the Asari councillor.

"_We must study the data of the Collector base to further verify your case," _he did a surprisingly good rendition of the Salarian councillor.

And finally, in a deep bassoon voice of the Turian councillor, he said, _"This evidence may well be irrefutable Shepard. We will get back to you once we've verified it."_

"I think you are suffering an acute case of Bureucraphobia as well as a touch of Councilmania. I was also a victim of both syndromes two years ago and decided to have a working vacation to Omega to cure both," Garrus even said it using a pseudo-German accent. How he managed to do so with his translator Shepard had no idea.

"Did it work?"

"Yeah, but I got a new case of FatalAngelism and Vigiretardism instead. Both cases were solved by a healthy suicide mission to the Omega Relay with a small dose of forgiveness before going into it. Needed a long needle called the Shepardsyringe as long as a Widow rifle to inject it though."

Shepard stared at his Turian friend. He had certainly lightened up since he decided to let Sidonis go. In fact, the former C-Sec agent was throwing cracks almost at Joker's level now. Unlike Joker however, Garrus was far more scarred and experienced in both battle and politics. So even his jokes and cracks had grains of wisdom in it.

Shepard finally cracked a smile, forgetting for a moment, his past two hours meeting with the Council.

"Anymore of those wisecracks, and you can join Joker and EDI on the bridge. If you want to attract any more chicks, I'm pretty sure adding pilot credentials will be icing on that big ugly scar of yours."

Garrus dramatically made a warding sign. "Sure I will, as soon as Omega develops a just government."

"Which may come soon after my latest negotiations with Aria. As long as she keeps claiming to BE Omega, she may as well live up to her reputation as proper ruler. And that means asserting control over the station and establishing law and order," Shepard said seriously.

"Bad analogy then. What is it the term that humans use when saying something will never happen? When cows fly?"

"Good enough, although I prefer to use pigs. Seriously though, Omega can't continue the way it is when the Reapers come. They've got to consolidate the mercenaries and gangs there into something useful. At the very least train them to handle husks."

"Well that will be the day. Maybe everything I done as Archangel won't be in vain after all," Garrus said. He then leaned forward towards the commander. "Seriously Shepard, you've been running yourself ragged between the Citadel, Omega, Illium, Tuchanka and Arcturus Station since we destroyed the Collector Base three months ago. I don't think the Reapers will appreciate it when they come and find you tired and offbeat."

Shepard sighed. "There's still too much to do. Pretty much everything in Council space and the Systems Alliance haven't done anything concrete to prepare. Only the Quarians, the Geth Collective, Clan Urdnot under Wrex and maybe, just maybe the Rachni have heeded my words.

"Any news from Samara yet?" Garrus asked. The Justicar had taken her leave shortly after surviving the Collector Base, deeming her oath fulfilled but with promises to return to Shepard's aid.

"Jury's still out on the Asari matriarchs though she says the Justicar order have pretty much signed in."

"And Mordin?"

"Same thing with the dalatrasses. Only good news was that his own dalatrass has accepted the Reapers and are in the process of convincing the other dalatrasses to mobilise," Shepard missed the company of the fast talking doctor, but like Samara, he had also seen fit to return to his government to convince them of the Reaper threat.

"Well there you have it. You've done everything you can already. So why don't you give yourself the shore leave you gave us after the Collector base instead of butting heads with politicians every waking moment for the past three months? If you like, I'll accompany you. Probably the only way you're going to attract any females to your side."

The commander became very quiet and Garrus suddenly realised he had touched a nerve. He kicked himself for forgetting Shepard's view on women. But he was also truthful and figured it was time to talk about this sore point. Not for the first time, he fantasized the image of a certain Alliance Marine square in his sniper sights.

"I haven't taken shore leave for anything longer than transit days, waiting for the next mission. Frankly I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Can't see myself relaxing on a beach somewhere, not when the Reapers are coming."

Garrus snorted. "Shepard, even the Turian military gives extended shore leave for soldiers between long tour of duties and I think you deserve one. Miranda is still your XO and has done a damn good job of it. She did lead the second team along with me in the Collector base. We all trust her and she trusts us as well. Take my advice Shepard. Go on shore leave. Spend tonight planning where to go and I promise I'll go along if only to protect you. Hell, maybe we can rope in Tali as well. It'll just be like old times."

Shepard laughed. "If you can't convince me to take a vacation, what chances do you have of convincing Tali? Quarian workaholic remember?"

The Turian shrugged. "We'll call it a working vacation then. The primary objective would be to make sure you have fun."

Shepard looked pensive for awhile. "Alright, I'll think about it. I don't suppose you could look up a few places for me."

"Sorry Shepard, you know my idea of fun. Point rifle, shoot merc, reload, repeat. I'll ask Kelly Chambers on my way to see Taylor at the armoury. He promised to add more kick to my old Mantis. I'm sure our resident shrink can think of a few places for you to relax. Maybe she can join you instead," Garrus smirked.

"Yeah that will happen, when I see pigs flying in space carrying Javelin torpedoes for the Reapers."

Both of them had a good laugh, old friends scarred beyond belief yet by some miracle of God still kept each other sane and grounded.

"Get some sleep Shepard. You can think of some other way to save the galaxy tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day," Garrus said.

Shepard stretched and moved away from his table, first depositing his coffee mug at the sink. "Goodnight Garrus. I'll see you all again at 0600 hours."

"Think white sands Shepard. And half-naked females. Preferably Volus ones," he chuckled. Then he choked as the candy bar he was holding suddenly moved on its own and forced itself up his nostrils courtesy of Commander Shepard's biotics. Needless to say, the commander was not amused especially when it was Garrus who had snuck the Volus special edition of Fornax into his cabin a few weeks earlier.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Despite his promise to Garrus, Shepard did not immediately go to sleep. It was a habit now that he would check his e-mails and reply most of them. Sometimes he even made a call to the sender. One good thing he had finally done was to call Elizabeth at the Terra Nova colony and was joyously greeted by most of the colony's major administrators.

"EDI, kindly wake me up at 0600 hours. Inform Miranda when she wakes up to clear my schedule for the next few days. I think its time I took a vacation."

"Very well Shepard. And if I may say so, it's about time. I was about to send a recommendation to Doctor Chakwas to advise you to do so given the minor slump in your performance lately," EDI replied.

Shepard rolled his eyes and emulating Joker, said, "Thanks mum."

"Logging you out, Shepard."

The e-mails that had come in at the evening period did not seem important. Most of them were from the various acquaintances Shepard had met in the past few months. He was somewhat gratified to see a personal message from Councillor Anderson apologising once again for the Council's pigheadedness but reassuring that the Systems Alliance WAS making preparations. He snorted at that. It wasn't that he mistrusted his former mentor, but not for the first time, he wondered if it would have been wiser to put the more political savvy but treacherous Udina on the council. Well, at least he trusted Anderson to pull a gun for him. He just hoped Anderson hadn't forgotten how in the two years he became Councillor.

_**"YOU HAVE MAIL! READ IT OR THE MESSAGE WILL DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS!" **_the Shepard VI he had procured from Mouse shouted at him. Not for the first time, he cursed himself for installing the damn thing. He skimmed through the new mail. Once again, it was nothing important, a love note from the consort Shaira who refused to leave him alone since he came back from the dead, an invitation from Liara to visit her Shadow Broker base, Detective Anaya asking him for insight on a case she was working on involving Eclipse mercenaries again…..

…. and one e-mail from Abby Williams titled _"Help my sisters."_

Shepard's blood ran cold as he saw the e-mail. Quickly he opened it up.

_To: Commander Shepard, Normandy SR2._

_ We've never met but my sister, Operations Chief Ashley Williams talked a lot about you. I'm Abby Williams, her second sister. I got your contact when I hacked into my sister's mailing system. I just hope you can verify that this is genuine wherever you are._

_ I need your help. My sister was stationed to New York Spaceport, America, Earth, three weeks ago. Our whole family shifted as well and right now, we're living in New Jersey. Everything was fine, the move was something we were all used to and for awhile, Ashley even seemed happy with her new assignment. Doesn't appear like a lot of people know about Grandad Williams on Earth._

_ But shortly after we arrived on Earth, my youngest sister Sarah Williams went to New York City for an internship with a colonial development company called Exogeni Corp. And a week after she left, she vanished. We called the office, we called her apartment but nobody knew where she was. _

_ We lodged a police report and also told Ash about it. She was very worried and promised to look into the issue although I don't know how she can, considering she's a marine, not police._

_ Then three days ago, a couple of Military Policemen shows up on out front door and asks us where Ash is. They're saying she went AWOL._

_ We're scared now and we have nobody else to turn to. That's why I decided to send you this._

_ Look, I don't really know what happened to you when you died, or at Horrizon. All I know is that my sister loved you. You were the first person to make her feel better about herself, and give her the respect she was due. And believe it or not, my sister never stopped loving you even after Horizon. I have the video recordings to prove it._

_ Help us Commander Shepard. If my sister means anything to you, help us find my sisters. We've only been here three weeks but we're already hearing strange rumours of doomsday cults all over the place. I even heard the name Reapers once._

_ You're out last hope Commander. Attached is our family home address in New Jersey as well as the last few vid recordings I had with my sister when she was investigating Sarah's disappearance._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Abigail Williams (aka Abby)_

_PS: Mum was always asking Ash to bring you around before you died. I wish we could have invited you to our home under better circumstances._

For the first time in his life, Setsuna Shepard had no idea what to do at that very moment. This was the first time someone from the Williams family apart from Ashley herself had contacted him. He couldn't believe it, how could someone like Ashley Williams go AWOL? Ash was an Alliance soldier through and through; she would never just leave her post even to search for her own sister.

"EDI are you online?"

Her holographic image appeared in his room. "I'm always online Shepard. I believe you were supposed to sleep under the threat of Doctor Chakwas relieving you off…."

"Skip it EDI. Verify the e-mail from Abigail Williams. Can you tell me here and now if the e-mail is genuine and is sent by the person who says she is sending it?"

The AI became silent for a moment then spole, "Verified Commander. I've traced the e-mail originating to a personal computer registered to one Abigail Williams, No 552B Baker's Street, Union County, New Jersey, American Region, Earth. I've privately accessed the camera on her computer and verified her in person. She appears to be having a heated conversation with a New York Police Department detective, unhappy at the progress being made in regards to a missing persons report filed for one Sarah Williams which was made 13 days ago."

The commander was slightly relieved at not having to worry about whether the letter was genuine. After all, EDI never made mistakes.

"EDI, as of this moment, who on the team is still awake?"

"Legion does not sleep and is currently analysing the extranet. Garrus Vakarian has started his watch at the bridge. Engineer Tali Zorah finished her shift 37 minutes ago but is still at her terminal calibrating the shield harmonics. Operative Taylor is currently working at the armoury modifying Vakarian's Mantis rifle."

Shepard sighed. There was nothing more he wanted to do then take the four of them and head straight for Earth. Unfortunately, three of those members were the ones most likely to stick out on Earth.

"Ask them to assemble at the conference room in ten minutes EDI. And ask the crew to prep the Kodiak for departure."

"Commander, what exactly are you….."

"Do as I say EDI. For once, just follow my orders. I've got to do this, even if I have to do this alone," Shepard snapped.

The AI was startled. The Commander had never snapped at her after the first meeting when he had been shocked by her existence and asked that she be shut down. But she did as she was told.

"Acknowledged Shepard. Logging you out," she said curtly before vanishing from his room.

Shepard re-read the e-mail, then took a long look at Ashley's photograph still perched on his desk. Then he went to his locker and began to put on his Kestrel power armour.

To be continued…

**Author's note**

To those who long to see Ashley Williams again, I beg your patience. And though she may appear to be a damsel in distress now, be assured that I'm very well aware of her being a marine through and through and won't reduce her to crying "HELP! SAVE ME SAVE ME!"

In case you guys don't remember, Ashley does have three sisters mentioned in ME1, Abby which I decided would be short for Abigail (Jewish name notwithstanding), Lynn and Sarah.

Constructive reviews and flames appreciated as usual.

On a side note, I feel it's a little lame to start off this mission based on an e-mail, but it was either Abby e-mailing Shepard or the Illusive Man. Since in this story, Ash was romanced by my Shepard, and the Collector base was destroyed, I decided the catalyst would be Abby instead.


	3. Chapter 2: Trust

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (19/1/2011)**

Chapter 2: Trust

The four still awake members of Shepard's team were shocked when they saw Shepard enter the conference room, fully armoured and armed to the teeth. His black armour gleamed, fully repaired and restored to pristine condition since the suicide mission. Attached to his hips was a Predator Hand Cannon on his right and a Kassa Locust sub-machine gun on the left. At the small of his back was his favourite personal weapon: an M-300 Claymore, the deadliest weapon a Vanguard could ask for. Attached to his back was one of the few good things to come out of Cerberus' labs: an Arc Projector.

"Uhm Commander? Going somewhere?" Garrus asked quizzically.

"You could say that. I've decided to go Earth. I heard New York City is nice at this time of year," Shepard tried to say this as casually as possible.

"I know the Bronx and Brooklyn have pretty much devolved into ghettos but seriously Shepard, don't you think the armour and Arc Projector is a little too excessive to deal with street punks?" Taylor asked.

Tali crossed her arms. "Shepard, you're not the only one who is perceptive of other people's feelings. Something is bothering you enough to put on combat gear in the dead of night," she said, referring to the ship's time of 12am.

Shepard said, "Look, I know it's very short notice but I've got to go to Earth. Someone is in trouble and it can't wait. At the same time, the work we have ahead of us is important too. All I'm asking is that you all take care of yourselves for while. I'll rendezvous with you all at Illium in approximately three weeks."

The four of them were startled. "Who is in trouble? Hell, who do you even know on Earth apart from the Reds?" Garrus asked.

"This is personal Garrus. Just trust me as you've always done and I'll see you all in a few weeks refreshed and rested just like you told me to."

"Shepard Commander, is this in relation to an e-mail sent by one Abigail Williams thirty point five minutes ago?"

Shepard's head snapped toward Legion. "Legion, what the hell were you doing looking at my personal mail?"

"We did not read the contents. We were monitoring extranet traffic and noticed the message sent to you. According to Cerberus databases, Abigail Williams is related to Operations Chief Ashley Williams, former crew of the SSV Normandy SR1," Legion replied.

The rest of them were shocked. "Is this true Shepard?" Tali asked.

The commander sighed. This was not how he wanted to break the news.

"Yeah it is. EDI, bring up the e-mail by Abigail Williams and upload it into everyone's omni-tool."

"Acknowledged Shepard." The omni-tools belonging to the other four bleeped and all took a moment to read the e-mail sent by Abigail.

"So let me get this straight. Your idea of a vacation is to go play being a cop for a woman who virtually ripped your heart out on Horrizon?" Garrus growled.

Shepard's reply was short and curt. "Yes."

"Shepard you can't do this. This is insane!" Tali shouted.

"I have to Tali. Ashley is in danger and its worried her family enough to actually ask me for help. I'm their last resort now."

"Need I remind you that this is the woman who called you traitor at Horizon and still dares to say she loves you?" Tali retorted.

"NO YOU DON'T NEED TO REMIND ME!" Shepard roared.

The other three people in the conference room were startled. They had never seen their commander ever raising a voice against Tali before. As far as they all knew, Tali was like the sister Shepard never had. They had never heard such an outburst from him before, at least not against his own crew.

For Tali herself, Shepard was a lover she could never have but she had settled for having him as a big brother as well as a best friend.

"You don't need to remind me that Ashley was the best thing that happened to me before since Akuze. You don't need to remind me of her spending the night with me before Ilos. You don't need to remind me that the last thing I thought off before I died was her. You don't need to remind me of her calling me a traitor, or of the night I nearly drank myself to death after Horizon. You don't need to remind me that I could only think of her in the lonely hours before the suicide mission. And you certainly don't need to remind me that I still care for Ashley Williams," Shepard all but growled out.

For Garrus and Tali who had long suspected a relationship between the former Gunnery Chief and Spectre, this was a confirmation.

"Shepard-Commander. There is little data or information currently available on the missing human Sarah Williams or Operations Chief Ashley Williams. Departing for Earth at the present time is not appropriate. We can launch extranet investigations on the disappearance and take action once we have more credible information on where their locations might be, including those of the perpetrators," Legion wisely did not comment on the commander's relationship with his former crew member. It had long accepted the fact that the commander was emotionally attached to all the crew of the destroyed Normandy SR1 as well as the current SR2.

"Hate to agree with him but he's right commander. You go to Earth right now you are flying blind. You've got no contacts or resources on Earth. How are you going to find this Ashley Williams?" Taylor asked.

"You all forgot where I came from. I grew up in the underbelly of New York City. The street gang I ran with, the Reds, are now a medium size business conglomerate, and I intend to persuade them to help me."

"Shepard, you refused to help them free a gang member from C-Sec two years ago. Why would they help you now?" Tali asked.

"I took revenge for them by destroying the Collectors. Quite a few of the Reds had business dealings with the missing colonies and were captured by the Collectors as well. That's the opening I'm going to use."

Garrus sighed. "Shepard, I know you are capable of moving mountains and Reapers. Doing the impossible is your forte. But this isn't an impossible mission. It's an insane and STUPID mission."

"Ashley made her choice on Horizon. You offered her a chance to join you. She didn't. I can understand that she is loyal to the Alliance. I can even understand her hatred of Cerberus. What I CANNOT understand is her not trusting you, not after everything we went through. She even committed a treasonous act for you by stealing the Normandy. Her life is her own now. There's no reason why you should continue to look out for someone who CHOSE to be out of your life."

"Shepard-Commander. A reminder: negotiations between Quarian Creators and the Geth Collective was to be arranged after your shore leave. We expected that you would take leave en-route to the Perseus Veil where we will chair a summit between Creators and Geth. Travelling to Earth now will significantly delay the summit by estimated three Earth weeks. This is not efficient nor conducive to peace negotiations, as the Geth Collective and Migrant Fleet have already set the date," Legion chimed.

The Commander couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So what you're saying is that you won't help me."

"Never think that Shepard. We're only saying that now is not the time!" Tali tried to emphasize everyone's point.

"Was it the 'time' when we went to the Migrant fleet to face your treason charge when the Collector's were still abducting human colonists left right and centre?" Shepard shot back at Tali.

"Was it the 'time' when we had to rescue the crew of the Hugo Gernsback from Aeia?" he glared at Taylor.

"Was it the 'time' when Garrus needed to track down an old treacherous buddy in the backalleys of the Citadel?"

"Was it the 'time' when we had to go make sure that Legion's people were not brainwashed by a computer virus?"

"Was it the time to do all this and more for the rest of the crew when the Collectors were still out there? You want to know how much extra time we took dealing with your personal issues even before getting the Reaper IFF and subsequently getting most of the crew abducted by Collectors?"

"A month. A month to make sure you guys didn't fold under pressure during the suicide mission. A month so that Taylor here can clear his head of daddy issues. A month so that an irresponsible father who kills for a living can reconnect to his son. A month so that you can try save that asshole of a man who calls himself your father Tali and damn near got you exiled," he said dangerously.

"Don't you dare talk about my father that way Shepard!" Tali angrily shouted.

"A month I took, as per the Illusive Man's advice to make sure that the team is prepared for anything. But guess what? I didn't do it because of the suicide mission. I did it because I couldn't bear to see you being accused of treason when you are one of the most selfless people I know," he said.

This completely took the wind out of Tali's sails and the angry Quarian suddenly felt deflated and ashamed.

"I never had a family and I didn't want anyone else to grow without one. That is why I helped Thane reunite with his son. Paradoxically, that is also why I helped Samara kill her own daughter; so that no one else would have to suffer like Nef's mother."

"Did you think that I had lost sight of the mission then? In the month I spent helping you all, how many more colonies disappeared? Ferris Fields and New Canton to name a few. I calculated how many more had disappeared between Horizon and before we went through the Omega 4 Relay."

"Nine hundred thirty seven thousand, four hundred and sixty seven men, women and children. Those deaths are on my head. Their deaths cried out to me before we went into the Omega 4 Relay. Deaths I could have avoided if only I had told you all to stop being pussies wallowing in personal issues and went straight into the Collector base."

"Cerberus would have told me that those million lives were necessary to ensure the destruction of the Collector base. That it was worth winning the hearts and minds of thirteen individuals, most of which I consider close friends, to complete the mission successfully."

"God knows how many times I considered joining Cerberus and embracing their ideals. After all, the Alliance and Council have pretty much screwed me in every hole since I came back. But I couldn't. I couldn't forsake you all, even at the expense of close to a million lives."

"And after all that I done for you, you dare to say that this is NOT THE TIME? Not the time to rescue an old friend? Not the time to make sure she doesn't join Kaidan in death? I almost lost her once on Virmire and only the fact that she was protecting the bomb and therefore was more important made me go back for her instead of Kaidan."

The commander grabbed the N7 helmet from the table and put it on. "Tali, Legion, both of you can continue with the negotiations yourselves. It's about time you both worked together without having me look over your shoulders."

"As for the rest of you, you told me to take shore leave. This is my shore leave. I'm going to Earth. If all goes well, I'll rendezvous with you all at Omega, after the negotiations are finished. Miranda has all of the things we need to do in the next few weeks."

"Damn it Shepard, just wait for awhile, if only to get more information! Once the Geth negotiations are over, I can come along to help since I actually am a detective," Garrus said angrily.

"No I won't wait. I'm not going to respond to the Williams saying it'll take a few weeks to verify the information. I'm not going to be like the council idiots. I'm going right now to see the Williams and assure them that I'm serious on finding Ash, and then I'm going to hunt down the bastards who did this."

"My decision is final. And these are my orders. Tali and Legion will lead the negotiations of both sides, with Miranda taking my place as mediator. She knows her job enough. Stay on course. I'll be finished in a few weeks and will rendezvous at Omega when everything is done. Crew dismissed."

And with that, the Commander left the conference room leaving four confused team members. Tali then quickly left the room to follow Shepard.

"Shepard..."

"I dismissed you all. It's time for you to sleep, you worked way past your shift again," he said curtly even as he stomped past the lab to the elevator.

"It's time for you to rest as well. Come on Shepard, you have to admit that this is too hasty even for you. You need time to digest the information, not rush off to save Chief Williams like a, like a, keelah what was that term again? Horse boy?"

"Cowboy," Shepard corrected her. "There will be plenty of time left for me to rest in the Kodiak on the way to the next relay."

"Shepard..." she said as she got into the elevator with him. "... I know how much Williams means to you. She told me as much during your funeral. And I'm not going to tell you not to go help her. But seriously Shepard, now is not a good time. We need you at the negotiations, I myself don't quite trust Legion yet and vice versa. We have to have you at the summit."

"Tali, I can't keep holding your hands on this. I already told you both to stop the animosity and proceed with understanding so that we can stand united against the Reapers. Not just for that, so that your people can have a homeworld again. I've done my part in opening the dialogue. It's time for you to do the rest. I have complete confidence in you. Why can't you have confidence in me?"

Tali shook her head. "It's not like that Shepard. We are all concerned for you. You've never behaved so impetuously before and this is actually dangerous, going off on your own."

"I may not be an Infiltrator class, but I do have extensive espionage training. I've operated alone behind enemy lines before Tali."

"Yes but..."

"ENOUGH!" he roared. "I said that I'll be back and I meant it. I survived a suicide mission to Ilos, hell, even survived getting spaced. I think I can survive the streets of New York City." The elevator door opened revealing the hangar and the already prepped up Kodiak. He moved towards it.

Tali was devastated. On the one hand, she knew that Shepard was a man capable of doing the impossible but on the other hand, she also knew that Shepard was still human no matter what Cerberus had done to him in the Lazarus project and he wasn't reacting rationally to the news of Ashley's disappearance. Tears of frustration threatened to drop from the inside of her mask and she began to sniff, trying to stop the tears.

Shepard heard the sniff and froze. The anger and disappointment he felt towards the team dissipated briefly. He looked back at the woman who had enabled him to become a Spectre and stood by him till now.

"Tali, you'll be fine. I'll be fine. I'll see you in three weeks and bring back a souvenir. Take care of yourself Tali." and with that, he entered the Kodiak and shut the door.

Tali watched with tearful eyes as the Normandy's hangar door opened and the Kodiak exited the Normandy. She quickly activated her omni-tool to access the Normandy's external cameras and watched as the Kodiak moved away from the Normandy, eventually moving to FTL speed towards the nearest relay.

She mentally slapped herself. Now was not the time to wallow in self pity. She was a proud member of the Quarian Migrant Fleet, a daughter of an admiral. She would not forsake the negotiations which could potentially win back her homeworld without a shot fired but neither would she abandon the only person who treated her with anything other than respect and friendship. She quickly switched her omni-tool to communications.

"Legion, Garrus, Taylor, EDI, wake everybody up. I think our commander finally cracked."

To be continued...

**Author's note**

It may seem quite OOC for Shepard to behave like that but seriously speaking, I don't think he's acting anymore worse than Grunt's growing pains. And I took special care to make sure that Shepard stays human without sacrificing his paragon path.

As usual, constructive reviews are appreciated.


	4. Chapter 3: Home

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (19/1/2011)**

**Author's note:**

One minor note. Although my Shepard did romance Ashley, as of this moment I'm going to make him agnostic. There is an option when talking to Ashley whether your Shepard believes in God or not, and one reply implies that he is. For the purpose of my story, he isn't.

To those who actually live in New York, my apologies in advance for my depiction of New York in the future. I actually took a two week vacation to New York a year ago, but spent most of my time in Manhattan, so I don't know much of the other boroughs like Brooklyn and Bronx. Didn't even visit nearby New Jersey. Everything else is extrapolation on the future for my part, with some research from ME codex.

Chapter 3: Home

In spite of the impression Shepard gave to the team, he didn't just rush off the Normandy with the armour on his back. He had already placed a duffel bag with civies as well as a compact crate-bag that could store his armour when necessary. In addition, as he was packing for the trip, he had made a call to Captain Bailey at the Citadel.

_Earlier_

_ "Yeah, who is this?" the face of Captain Bailey appeared on Shepard's desk terminal but the captain wasn't looking at the screen._

_ "Hello Captain. This is Shepard here."_

_ "Shepard! What a surprise! I didn't expect to hear from you so soon, you only left the Citadel a few hours ago," Bailey said._

_ "Yeah, I didn't expect to call you as well. Listen Bailey, I need a favour."_

_ "What sort of favour?"_

_ "You once said policing the Zakera Ward was like policing New York City. Was that where you worked before you came to the Citadel?"_

_ The C-sec captain was startled by Shepard's line of questioning. "Yeah, I was leading my own priscint at the time. It was located on the outskirts of the ghettos of Brooklyn, but it wasn't so bad yet."_

_ "Captain, do you know anybody you can trust which I can make contact with?"_

_ Bailey looked hard at Shepard. "Yeah, I'll forward you information on my former priscint. Most of the detectives there worked under me and the lieutenant is my protege. Lieutenant Mac Taylor. He's got a pretty good team that can help you, whatever you plan on doing."_

_ "Can you send him a secure message telling him to meet me when I arrive at New York?"_

_ "It's no problem Commander, though I have to wonder why you need help considering you've already got Garrus Vakarian as your friend. You do know he was one of the best C-Sec detectives right?"_

_ "He may not have the time to do so. In any case, this is a personal matter and if possible I won't involve my team in it. Suffice to say, I need a cop for the job, not a Reaper special task force."_

_ "OK Commander. Will write the message now. Keep your terminal open, I'm also sending you a hardcopy scan of a handwritten letter to Mac introducing you."_

_ "Anything I need to know about him that could screw me?"_

_ "Don't worry Shepard, I may not be the straightest cop in the galaxy, but Mac Taylor has a reputation that will even put your paragon fame to shame. He's never been a dirty cop in any sense of the word. That's why he's stuck in Brooklyn the last I heard."_

_ "Thanks Bailey, I look forward to meeting him then."_

_ "Shepard, a word of advice. Be careful on Earth. There's been some strange rumours of mysterious crimes and disappearances lately, and its coinciding with the rumours of a cult which no one knows the name of yet," Bailey warned._

_ "You're not the first to warn me of it."_

Present

The Commander sighed as the mass relay came into sight. He would need to take the relay to Arcturus and from there, take a transport to Earth. For a while, he considered using his Spectre status to commandeer a military transport which would probably be faster but in the end decided against it. He was still wary of the Alliance military and he didn't want his arrival to be advertised everywhere.

What he could do was use his Spectre status to breeze his weapons and armour through customs and force them to hush up about it. After all, the Alliance was still part of Citadel space and therefore his near-unlimited Spectre authority applied.

Despite what he had told Garrus and the rest though, he wished they were accompanying to Earth. He had gone on solo missions before on the Normandy SR2, such as fixing the Solar shields of the Research Station on Solveig System, Caleston Rift, but such missions had no combat threats or enemy contacts.

Nevertheless, the refusal of his team to comply with his request irked him. They trusted him to lead them into a suicide mission, but complained when he wanted to go on his own to help a friend. Well, it was time they took responsibility for their actions, just as he himself had to take responsibility for Ashley's disappearance. It may not be the Collectors, but Shepard swore whoever took her and her sister were going to end up exactly like the Collectors: vaporised.

xxxxxxxxxxx

New York City hadn't changed much despite being the target of battles during the Second American Civil War. The new Statue of Liberty still gleamed brightly on Liberty Island despite the original's destruction. Much of the island of Manhattan was still unchanged from the twentieth century, most of the familiar buildings such as the Empire States Building, the Chrysler Building, the G.E. building, even the old United Nations Building was still visible as his hovercar flew past the island. On the outside, it looked like a peaceful megatropolis.

Shepard knew better.

The personal car did not take him to the glittering lights of the Big Apple. Instead it was taking him to the nearby state of New Jersey, just opposite the Hudson River. But before even passing Manhattan, he had a chance to take a look at the sprawling ghetto that was Brooklyn. The once affluent borough of New York City had become a victim of overpopulation over the 21st and early 22nd century. Too many immigrants from other countries had flooded the United North American States during the Third World War and most of them were kept in Brooklyn and the Bronx, which were turned into massive refugee camps rather than letting them into the rest of America. As the city became a megatropolis, the borough turned into a massive jungle of towering buildings housing millions of the descendants of those immigrants. The shoreline had been expanded south of Brooklyn as well to make way for more buildings. It had its share of skyscrapers and complexes but the majority of the population lived in the seedy underbelly of Brooklyn, where in some areas, sunlight didn't even reach.

It was here that the Hero of the Citadel had been born some thirty years earlier, probably in a gutter somewhere until he was taken by a nearby orphanage run by a local church. At least that was the story he was told by the abusive priests who had raised him until he ran away to join the gangs.

Shepard shook his head. There was no use in dwelling in the past now. Right now he needed to do something he considered more difficult than the Omega 4 Relay: face the family of a woman he had once loved... still loved... he couldn't decide. He nevertheless felt an obligation to help, especially after all the shit the family had already went through all because their ancestor cared so much for his soldiers that he surrendered to enemy forces.

The state of New Jersey was surprisingly less congested than its neighbouring state. Jersey City was still a city but hardly a metropolis let alone a megatropolis of forty million. His taxi took him past the city into the more suburban counties. Eventually the taxi landed in a neighbourhood dotted by suburban bungalows, something Shepard had never seen in his life. He was glad that the Williams family at least could afford to stay in a reasonable comfortable home on Earth.

After he exited the taxi, he told the driver to wait for him. He was dressed in his civies, the rough spacer outfit he was used to wearing on the Normandy, while his armour and weapons were securely packed into the crate-bag. He also had a duffle bag for other clothes and utilities, which included a set of blades given by Thane as a gift to him, after the assassin had given him a crash course in throwing knives. He wasn't planning to stay with the Williams, he had only come to reassure them with his presence.

The commander walked up to the doorway, took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.

The door opened slowly and the first thing the commander saw was the muzzle of a Kessel V pistol.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the wielder of a pistol was a young woman who resembled Ashley only in her tanned skin. Her hair was cropped short and bleached with streaks of auburn, and she was shorter than her sister by a few inches. The look in her eyes was the same every time Ashley scoped a target though.

"Take it easy mam. My name is Commander Shepard, and I'm here to help you find your sisters," the commander said in what he hope was a soothing tone. It didn't work.

The woman snorted. "Yeah right, if a punk like you is Commander Shepard, then I'm the Supreme Councillor of Citadel Space. Now get your punk ass out of here before I tear you a new one."

Suddenly he remembered a conversation from long ago. "You must be Lynn Williams. Your sister said you trained with pistols. Pretty good grip for someone who doesn't like it."

She was stunned. "How do you know... who told you... are you really... oh crap..."

"Oh crap is the right word sis. Because that is Commander Shepard the Hero of the Citadel out there on our front door!" a hand came down on Lynn Williams gun arm, pushing the muzzle to the ground. Then a second figure appeared at the doorway and Shepard had to blink to see if he was seeing things.

The first thing he thought of was Jack, because the arm that had pushed Lynn away was tattooed with an intricate black pattern which accentuated the toned muscles. Another reason why he blinked was due to the shocking _**green **_colour of the woman's hair, which was big and seem to explode around her head. She was dressed in what almost looked like an Alliance Marine utility uniform, with a tight tank top exposing a pierced belly button, and utility trousers which he realised was an exact replica of the ones used by the Alliance.

"Well what are you waiting for, get your ass inside before some ganger tries to mug you. I don't want you spilling his blood over mum's flowers," she barked as she shoved Lynn Williams out of the doorway.

Shepard quickly entered, still somewhat shocked at Abigail, or Abby William's appearance even though Ashley had warned him long ago that she was weird in dressing and tastes.

Then again, he did lead the galaxy's biggest squad of weirdos.

The house looked rather Spartan with little in the way of decorations, but Shepard knew it was because they had only just moved a little more than three weeks ago. There were still a few boxes around that hadn't been unpacked.

"Mum! Commander Shepard is here!" Abby roared as she directed him to the living room towards a sofa. There was a coffee table that was filled with what looked like sharpening tools. At the middle of it was something he thought only existed in museums: a medieval short sword of a make he couldn't identify.

The sounds of footsteps were heard coming down the staircase, and Shepard saw a woman who was perhaps approaching her fifties. It was fair to say that Ashley got her looks from her mother. She almost looked like an aged Ashley, with greying hair but lacked the military posture of her eldest daughter.

"Commander Shepard? Abigail said that she would contact you but never did I imagine you would actually come," she said quietly.

Shepard braced himself for what outburst he perceived would come. "Mrs. Williams, Ashley Williams was an important member of my team two years ago. I came as soon as I heard she was missing. I couldn't bear the thought of your family losing a member."

"Yeah right, then where were you when you in the last two years? Playing James Bond while our sister cried herself to sleep every time she came home?" Lynn snapped.

"Lynn, don't bring that up, it isn't helping..."

"NO I WON'T! Mum don't you realise that this isn't the Commander Shepard sis fell in love with? Come on, we heard it from her herself. This so called hero is working with Cerberus, probably the same people responsible for Ash and Sarah's disappearance!"

Shepard sighed. "As crazy as it seems, I'm no longer working with Cerberus. I never meant to leave Ashley alone in the last two years. Your sister, your daughter was someone special to me, Mrs. Williams. I'm not going to stand by and watch her disappear as a crime statistic, nor let her reputation be tarnished by the military."

"So why are you here? To apologise so that we can forgive you for dragging her into your fantasy Reaper theory? So that we can accept you into the family, kiss and make up?" Lynn taunted.

"No, I just came to tell you I've come here to hunt the bastards who did this. I only came to call on you Mrs. Williams. After this, I'm heading straight to New York City. That's where your sisters went missing and I'm going to find out why."

He stepped back so he could look at all the Williams with his field of vision. "For the record, I DID love your sister. THAT is the sole reason I'm here."

Mrs. Williams said, "I gathered as much when you showed up on our front door. For my part commander, I believe you."

Lynn only huffed, still disbelieving of Shepard's intentions.

Abigail then asked, "So what's your plan? The police are already dragging their feet finding Sarah and the military will probably arrest Ashley the moment they see her regardless of what happened to her."

"I've got a contact in the NYPD that may be able to help. At the same time, could you tell me anything else that you couldn't in the e-mail? In particular, all these rumours of a cult?"

"Don't you hear anything on the news?" Lynn asked.

"I've been travelling all over Citadel space and out of it as well. I haven't heard much in the way of news, at least not from news channels."

"Well whoever they are, they're all over the place, in almost every major city on Earth. Rumour has it that NYC has the biggest chapter of those wackos. They go around the city even in downtown Manhattan proclaiming the end is near and somehow, a lot of people believe them. Thing is, those who start joining them disappear. I had a friend who was convinced that they were right and joined up in one of their processions, and she also disappeared. Never showed up at work or home again. No contacts whatsoever," Lynn said.

"Don't the authorities try to stop those processions?"

"That's the strange part. Every time a cop comes by, they scatter like rats. A group of one hundred murmuring idiots and the moment they see a cop, they disappear. As cliche as it is, it seems like magic. Even other passersby seem dazed and can't figure out how a bunch of red hooded figures disappear."

"Did Sarah ever express an interest in them?"

"Of course not!" Lynn exclaimed indignantly.

"Tell me about your sister's internship with Exogeni. That company has a less than savoury reputation," he said.

"Sarah has been trying to get work in colony development after graduation. She was applying to all the major corporations even before we left for Earth. When we reached Earth, it was then we got the offer for internship at their branch in New York City. She was happily working there before she just disappeared," Abigail said.

"When did you tell Ashley and how did she get involved?"

"We told Ashley almost instantly. Ash was pissed and she was with us when we made the police report. She had to go back to base and promised us that she would get time off to help us with the police," Mrs. Williams said.

"Then a week ago, the military police drops by saying that Ashley disappeared and their charging her for AWOL. We asked for details like when and where she disappeared but we didn't get anything," Lynn said angrily.

"OK, so let me summarise. On your first week, Sarah started working in Exogeni in New York City. She disappears after the first week. You lodge a police report and tell Ash about it. A week later Ash vanishes as well. Did the police give you an update this week?"

"Only that their investigations are still ongoing. One of them did let slip that there's a lot of other missing people being reported," Abby said.

Shepard made a mental note of all of this. "Alright. Thank you so much for seeing me and answering my questions. I'm heading over to my New York contact now. I'll let you know if I find anything."

Mrs. Williams sighed as she came over and held Shepard's hands. "Thank you commander. I'm glad you came, even if only as a friend. God speed your way and aid you in bringing Sarah and Ashley home."

"I swear to you Mrs. Williams, I will find Ash and Sarah. And the perpetrators will pay."

The old woman said, "That won't be necessary Shepard. Just finding my daughters will be enough. Even if the worst comes to pass, I don't want you and my family to fall into despair. The Lord teaches us to love and turn the other cheek, not to wreak bloody vengeance. '_You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth". But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'_ So says the our Lord in the book of Matthew 5:38."

"I can't guarantee I'll do that Mrs. Williams. I loved Ash but not her God. And I have a feeling that whoever caused her to disappear, they are irredeemable. Their only salvation will come out of the end of my shotgun," Shepard said quietly.

"Yeah well, if it comes to that, use this instead," Abigail took the medieval short sword from the table, produced a sheath to keep the blade and handed it to the astonished commander.

"I appreciate the thought Abigail, but I don't think a blade like this will be of much use, especially against modern armour."

Abigail snorted. "Armour is PRECISELY what it's meant to cut. Don't ask me to explain how it works, but believe me, it'll cut even Krogan heavy armour like swiss cheese. A little something I cooked up while researching how to use swords on modern armour. All I can say is that it DOESN'T use mass effect fields. Could come in handy."

Shepard didn't know whether to believe Abigail or not, but he wasn't about to insult her by refusing the gift. Besides, a proper hand weapon might come in handy if worst came to worst.

"I accept your gift then, thank you. Now I must take leave. Mrs. Williams, Abby Williams, Lynn Williams," he said, nodding to each of them in turn.

As he left the house, Lynn called out to him, "They say you're a man who gets away with doing the impossible. Make sure you get my sisters back then."

Shepard looked back at her. "I will."

To be continued...

**Author's note**

LOL, I think I gave away the title of the next chapter. But fear not, I have a few surprises up my sleeve. A certain world class detective will soon join the hunt for the cult, Ashley and Sarah. Stay tuned then.

The short sword as I imagine it is a Roman gladius, the kind used by Roman centurions. The way I envision Abby is a somewhat gothic chick who is also an otaku, and also dabbles in backyard science projects. Shoot me if you don't like it.


	5. Chapter 4: CSI New York

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (22/1/2011)**

Chapter 4: CSI New York

The Prescint of Lieutenant Mac Taylor was located on the east side of Brooklyn, the station only a few minutes drive away from the historical Brooklyn Bridge which still served as a pedestrian transit even if nobody drove ground vehicles anymore. The prescient looked like the only beacon of hope in the endless concrete jungle of Brooklyn. This was reinforced by the crowd outside the prescient.

"What's going on?" Shepard wondered out loud.

"Lots of people missing, just disappeared into thin air. Even my cousin sister's brother's best friend's brother-in-law went 'poof'! Just like that. They say those cults are Satanists: sending those people straight to hell to serve the devil. You sure you wanna come here? You not careful, you'll be seeing old satan down there," his cab driver, a Italian sounding fellow said.

"Damn, doesn't look like I can get in there quick. Can you wait here as well? I'll add another hundred creds."

"Oh no, I ain't sticking around in this town so I can vanish. These disappearance are happening even in Manhattan Upper East side. Can you imagine how many people disappear from this shithole then?"

Shepard relented. "Alright then, drop me here then."

"That'll be sixty credits, plus fifty for waiting back in New Jersey," the cabbie demanded.

"Here's two hundred. Keep the change. Stay safe," the commander said sincerely as he slid his credit chit into the cab's credit reader.

"Wow, thanks mister. Tell you what, here's my card. Anytime you wanna get out of this hell hole, you give old Tony here a ring. You got a name by the way?"

"Setsuna. Bye Tony," Shepard figured that few people knew his first name anyway. As expected, the cabbie showed no sign of recognition. He then exited the cab, carrying his duffel and crate bag with him.

The crowd was large but it was not impossible for him to push his way into the crowd. All of them were anxious and many of them were trying to get into the prescint as well to file a report. All of them were shouting along the same lines.

_ "They took my son!/My brother's missing!/Why aren't you finding my sister?/When are you going to find my daughter?" _They all cried in this manner.

A lot of people cursed him as he pushed by but he didn't stop until he was at the doors of the prescint. It was then he was stopped by a big burly cop.

"Hold it there, what have you got in those bags?" he demanded, standing in Shepard's way and actually shoved a nightstick at his chest.

Putting on a civil tone, Shepard said, "Excuse me sir. I have an urgent appointment with Lieutenant Mac Taylor concerning the disappearance of a friend of mine."

"Yeah, you and every other scum out there. Get back in line if you wanna report any of your loser family members missing."

Shepard bristled. "These people are desperately looking for their loved ones. They're not scum and neither am I."

"Beat it punk, or you'll be spending time in the prescint!" the insolent man shouted.

"Why do you think I came here dumb ass? Now is your lieutenant in the prescint or not?" Shepard retorted.

The man's expression turned ugly as he swung his nightstick at Shepard. To everyone's astonishment, not least the cop himself, he found his arm suddenly twisted behind him along with Shepard. Immediately the other cops at the door pulled out their firearms and aimed at Shepard.

"Step away from the officer. Step away or you won't be coming out of this alive!" they said.

Despite being unarmoured and almost unarmed save for the Predator Hand Cannon at his hip, Shepard calmly released the arm lock he had on the other cop and raised his hands.

"Easy there officers. I just need to talk with Lieutenant Mac Taylor. Those bags contain my clothes and personal effects."

One of the officers tried to open the crate-bag and found even with his omni-tool, he couldn't open it. "Sir, unless you tell us who you are and what's in the bag, you're not seeing anybody except the forty cell mates downstairs."

"Forget it Johnson, lets just shove this piece of crap there now and he'll see how high and mighty he is." The cop Shepard just released wheezed as he cradle his twisted arm. "Who does he think he is anyway, thinking he can see the lieutenant like this?"

"He is Commander Setsuna Shepard, the first human Spectre and Hero of the Citadel. And he does have appointment with me constable. Stand down everyone," a voice said.

Shepard looked at the owner of the voice. Whoever he was, he looked older than he should be. A Caucassian male with thinning hair that was still miraculously black. His wore a utility uniform that was reminiscent of the ones worn by Bailey in C-Sec, except that his was a dark blue with white underlines. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and it reflected in his crumpled clothes as well.

What impressed Shepard however was his posture. Whatever he was before being a cop, he definitely was a marine.

The rest of the cops were astonished at whom Shepard presumed to be Mac Taylor. The one who had blocked Shepard gave his face a close look and turned as white as a ghost. "JESUS CHRIST IT REALLY IS HIM!"

"Can we take this inside? I don't want to advertise my being here just yet."

"Officer's, your relief is here. Go grab a shower and chow, God knows you've been at this all day. My apologies commander. This way," he said.

"My 'personal effects'?" Shepard asked.

The lieutenant took a long look at the crate-bag. "Let him have it boys. And don't breath a word about this to anyone or you'll never see your pensions."

The other nearby cops reluctantly handed Shepard back his bags then moved away to be replaced by a new batch of guards. Fortunately, the other civilians had not been close enough to listen to the details of the scuffle.

Shepard walked behind Mac through the building. He was quite astonished to see everyone else in the building looking as haggard as the lieutenant. He couldn't believe that once upon a time he called them pigs, useless cops who couldn't solve anything. But the look on everyone's face was far from lazy or stupid, it was more like pent up in frustration over a complicated case.

He was led into an office which was actually opened as the walls facing outside were in fact glass.

"Well Commander, this is an honour. You really did humanity proud when you became a Spectre. Who would have thought you came from the streets around here?"

"Yeah, I try not to think about those times."

"I expect you don't. How is Bailey by the way?" Taylor asked.

"He's doing well, likes the Citadel, says policing his ward is almost like New York City. A little homesick though. I heard he has a son back here."

A pain look crossed Taylor's face which Shepard didn't miss.

"Oh God, please don't tell me….."

"His wife just lodged a report a few hours ago. That will make him the two hundred and sixty sixth reported missing person we've had in two months."

"That many? You mean that many people have been disappearing for two months and you still don't have a clue?"

"Don't you dare tell me how to do my job Commander, nor assume that I am not doing it. The whole of New York City is in an uproar over this. What you see outside my prescint is being repeated even on Manhattan. Even gang members are frightened, some even coming in and reporting their own disappearances."

Shepard held up his hands in a placating manner. "I'm sorry Lieutenant. It's been a long journey and even before I started out, I have not had rest. But I have to ask if you have found any leads and I'm here to help out."

Taylor took a long hard look at Shepard. "Let me ask you this. Did you come here as a Council Spectre? Or a Cerberus Operative?"

"Neither Lieutenant. I'm here as a friend trying to find a lost daughter and sister. Solving your cultist problem is secondary."

"You maybe more interested in this cultist business than you think. Follow me."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the morgue, Shepard found a nightmare come true. Lying on the coroner's table, was a fully turned husk. It looked like it had been torn in two, and both pieces thrown into the sewers where they had been recovered by the prescint.

"God damn fucking Reapers!" Shepard growled.

"I don't know about Reapers Shepard, but somebody brought this to Earth and I don't like it."

"Have you tried to identify this poor bastard?" Shepard asked, suddenly realising he had no idea the nature of husks once turned. He only knew how to kill them.

"No chance. The body has turned into something else. There's almost no proof that that thing was once human apart from its shape. No organic flesh and therefore no DNA. Scans don't tell us anything apart from the fact that the molecular structure is totally alien and unidentifiable," Lieutenant Taylor said.

"I'm surprised Alliance security hasn't swooped in and classified everything. After all, they did their best to discard my story on the Reapers for the past two years," Shepard scowled.

"That's because I haven't told the Commissioner on this yet. We found this only a day ago, and since you are the foremost expert on these things, I decided to wait till you came by. No use you coming here and I'm ordered to stonewall you in the investigations."

"Thanks Lieutenant."

"Forget the lieutenant, just call me Taylor."

"Only if you drop the commander act and call me Shepard."

"Fair enough, though I warn you people are more likely to recognise you if I call you Shepard instead of your title," Taylor said.

"Point taken. Anyway, where did you guys find this?" Shepard asked.

"Actually it wasn't us. Whoever is making the disappearances is shaking up even the underworld. From the biggest ones like the Five Families to the street gangs like the Bloods, the Black Spades, the Tenth Street Reds, the Battaglia Circle, and others, they've all reported missing members. We had a very brief and violent gang war when all this started which only ended when the special Task Force from the commissioner's office managed to convince most of the gang heads that they were all affected equally and therefore, each was not to blame for the other."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Do you deal with these street gangs?"

Taylor retorted with a glare. "Only when I find that they broke the law. Which is virtually every day. If there's one good thing that came out of all this, it's their all too scared to wage war on each other now."

"Anyway, it was the Tenth Street Reds who brought this to us. They claimed they found it in the sewers while trying to search for their members. One of their leaders, a character named Finch."

"Really? Did he say anything else?"

"He was the first to mention that it might be a husk, and that maybe the cult has something to do with the Reapers you were talking about. He did namedrop you, told me that you were the best man to deal with them and that if need be, he could contact you. That was after I got the message from Bailey so I decided to wait for your arrival. Did you know him?"

"Him? Not personally. I did run with the Reds when I was a kid and teenager. He tried to get me to misuse my Spectre status to exonerate a friend who had been apprehended by C-Sec but I refused and managed to dissuade him from blackmailing me. Not that it matters anyway, my life in the gangs is long behind me."

"Hmmmmmm, an interesting set of coincidences: the gang that located the husk is a gang you were formerly part of."

Shepard's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "In my line of work, coincidences are normally synonymous with traps."

"A trap? For whom?" Taylor asked.

"Me. People are missing because of me."

Silence ensued. "Not to say that you're insignificant, but don't you think its a little egoistical to think you are the centre of the disappearances?"

"No, but I damn well set the events in motion when I destroyed the Collectors three months ago," Shepard said quietly.

"The Collectors? I thought they were a myth. At any rate, what do they have to do with the Reapers or husks?"

"They were working for the Reapers, Taylor. They were responsible for kidnapping humans throughout the Terminus systems. I blew them all to slag. Which means the Reapers would need another servant to do their dirty laundry before they themselves finally come," Shepard snarled.

Taylor decided not to contend about the existence of the Reapers. "Well we got enough on our plates to worry about aliens right now. My concern now is finding the missing people and shutting down the miscreants who did this."

"As am I, Taylor. You said that the husk was given just yesterday. Do you have a plan from here on?"

Taylor sighed. "I've done everything I can think off in the book, and a few off it. I already sent as much men as I can to sewers where the Red said it was located, I even combed a five block radius around the place. I got nothing except a prescint full of shit-ridden cops and a reprimand from the Commissioner."

"So we still have no leads? Apart from the Reds, did any of the other gangs give any information? Tried to strike an alliance to protect them?" Shepard asked.

"No they haven't. Right now, all I've got is one scared borough with everyone scared and not enough detectives on the job. As I mentioned earlier, the crime bosses are scared. If they know anything, they aren't saying anything to us, probably in fear of disappearing as a consequence."

Shepard said, "There's got to be someone who knows something. I still don't believe how the cultists, if they are so large in number, can move around so quickly and disappear before anyone catches them. Taylor, are you sure nobody else has a clue about where the missing people might be?"

Before Taylor could answer, his omni-tool bleeped. He turned it on, looked at the message, then turned to Shepard. "Whatever guns you have in that crate, put them on now. Reports just came in of a large congregation of the cultists ten blocks away. They're picking up people along the way which I'll bet my pension will be missing later. Its fast becoming a riot. Commissioner is also calling in the National Guard to help us since there just isn't enough cops in all of New York City to contain thirty million rioters. This is going to get ugly."

Shepard noded and activated his omni-tool. The crate-bag opened to reveal the arsenal he had brought with him. Taylor took a glance and whistled. "Wish I had that kind of gear during the Skyllian Blitz."

"I figured that you might have been a marine. N6 perhaps?"

"N5. Was a Sergeant then, served aboard the SSV Agincourt. My unit was still hammered though trying to relieve the colony."

"Did you know Navigator Pressly?"

"Yeah, poor bastard. Used to play cards with him," Taylor said sadly.

"We'll drink to his memory when this is over. Right now, I want to see the punks who've been stirring up the city."

xxxxxxxxxx

Ten minutes later, Shepard appeared in front of more than fifty policemen armed in riot gear. All of them were in awe of Shepard's obviously military grade armour and weapons. Mac Taylor and a few other officers also had similar hardsuits but they were nowhere near the strength of the Kestrel armour. As they boarded transports that would take them to the riot site, Taylor suddenly remembered something.

"There is one last person who could help us."

"Who is it? You have an informant in the cult?"

"Hardly. There's a vigilante who's waging his own private war against the gangs. According to my predecessors, he initially made a practise of leaving the criminals tied up along with the evidence at the doorstep of the nearest prescint. Then he started killing them, leaving their bodies behind for us to find. Now he mutilates their bodies and displays them all over the city, even Manhattan. In the five years I've been here, this happened ten times. Each was a very serious crime. One was a white slaver who ran a sex slave market racket, and another a wife batterer. Even the mob bosses are afraid of him. I've been trying to nab him for years, but in spite of it, he keeps leaving me evidence occasionally of things he can't solve."

"Anyone ever seen or talked to this fellow? If we can't recognise him, I can't see how we can contact him for information."

Taylor shrugged. "We're grasping at every straw. And that was one straw I just remembered we haven't grasped yet."

"I know a vigilante and he had a nickname given by the locales. Archangel. What's this one called?"

"It isn't just the locales, we call him that too. And you're not going to like it."

"Why?"

"It's Ripper."

To be continued...

**Author's note**

LOL, lame name I admit. Just hope nobody will recognise my surprise guest star yet.


	6. Chapter 5: The Spectre, the Cop and the

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (26/1/2011)**

Chapter 5: The Spectre, the Cop and the Ripper

The blocks where the riots were happening was a warzone. Thick black smoke rose in the sky and the city blocks glowed with an unearthly red as fires burned in numerous places. Fortunately, the blocks were all made of concrete and the fires seem localised, not to mention the fire extinguisher systems still worked in all the blocks.

On the streets chaos reigned. Masses of people were running here and there, most were just fleeing the red congregation that was slowly swelling as it progressed through the blocks. But not a few were taking advantage of the situation to loot empty shops and apartment blocks.

It sickened Shepard and reminded him of Omega when he was trying to recruit Mordin Solus. The Commander was currently seating in a police cruiser with Lieutenant Mac Taylor, leading a small fleet of other police cruisers and bus transports carrying most of the prescint cops.

The police and National Guard had formed road blocks and were using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the rioters. But the situation was barely contained as there were too many blocks burning and over two million living in Brooklyn alone.

"Still the same shithole when I left it," Shepard said in disgust.

"It has improved a bit in the last five years. We actually managed to get the gang warfare crimes reduced when the Alliance founded the Shepard Foundation which got many gang members off the street."

"OK Lieutenant, what's the plan and how can I help?"

"Commissioner tasked the cops under my prescint to find and detain the instigators. We're going to droop in on the congregation. This is the first time they've been out in huge numbers, we have to nab at least one tonight. You can join my team in doing so."

"I assume since we're dealing with civilians that no shooting is allowed?" Shepard asked.

Taylor grimaced. "We don't know what's going to happen. The cultists and rioters will have armed themselves. This is a police's worst nightmare: calming civilians without responding with a bullet. My prescint forces will be armed but we're only to use firearms as a last resort. I don't suppose you're trained in riot suppression?"

"No, but as a Vanguard, I'm very well trained in non-lethal unarmed combat. Plus I spar all the time with a Turian C-Sec detective and an Asari Justicar who has taught me a thing or two about disarming targets without killing."

"If they were human, I could use them right now," Taylor said. "Brace yourselves, we're going in."

It was then that Shepard saw a red mass of people whom he assumed to be the cult members. The prescint force flew down to the streets near the main congregation and disembarked their transports. Shepard stepped down on the city of his birth for the first time in almost twenty years. The smell of smoke and death assaulted his senses but sadly, he was used to it already.

"Alright Shepard, follow my lead. Set your ammunition to concussion rounds only if the worst comes to worst. The other cops will spread out in teams to catch the cultists. Now once we've found and restrained them..."

Mac Taylor never finished his sentence. Shepard, who had finely honed situational awareness, spotted something being dropped unto them from an apartment window.

"INCOMING!" Shepard roared as his biotics flared. He tried to biotically push the grenade (he had time to realise it was a High Explosive military grade type), but the moment his biotics touched the grenade, the grenade was almost on top of the police force and it exploded. The force of the explosion at the centre of the force resulted in everyone being blown away from the centre, even Shepard himself.

The Spectre managed to land on his feet, but the rest of the police force seemed winded. He winced as he saw the cops closest to the centre had been blown apart and the rest were scattered. Fortunately, Taylor was getting on his feet, dazed, cursing but alive.

"GOD DAMN IT! GET THAT GRENADIER!" he roared but most of his constables were injured or dazed.

Shepard hefted his Kassa Locust. "Regroup yourselves, I'm going after him!" he shouted. With that, he went to the building where he had seen the grenade and burst into the door.

The building appeared to be deserted. Normally such blocks would be crammed with squatters and gang members as Shepard himself once lived with. But most of the doors he ran past were broken into, their apartments empty. He sped his way, noting the chaos of the streets, and climbed the stairs to get to the floor where he saw the grenade drop, which was the sixth.

He froze as he heard scuffling. As quietly as he could, he peeked around the corner and was rewarded with the sight of three red hooded figures. Their backs were to him and they appeared to be fussing over something which Shepard couldn't see but was willing to bet was a grenade launcher.

He rounded the corner swiftly and aimed the muzzle of his Kassa Locust at them. "Hands in the air, turn around very slowly."

The three figures froze, one of them turning to see who it was. They all slowly complied, never once speaking to another. They all wore the same hooded cloaks that even now disguised their shapes and bodies.

"Hands in the air!" Shepard barked.

"We are the cult of Harbinger, we are here to bring you salvation," the middle of the trio said as he walked towards Shepard.

"I said don't move," he barked as he fired a warning shot at his feet.

"We have waited for you a long time. Now you will be one with us... Shepard," they all chanted in unison.

The commander felt his blood chill. He was wearing his Kestrel Helmet which should have disguised his identity even if he was no cop.

"We are the Harbinger of your perfection. Your will surrender your potential to us," Shepard looked behind him down the stairwell and saw that there were now more red hooded figures behind him.

"You will be the beginning of the end as we bring you into our glorious fold," more red hooded figures appeared in the corridors, emerging from the rooms of the apartments.

Shepard snorted. "I don't believe in God, why should I believe in Harbinger considering I killed his cousin Sovereign?"

This apparently was enough to bring out the humanity of the cultists. They screamed in fanatical anger and rushed him, but the Commander was prepared. He had already secretly concentrated his biotics even when they were chanting and released a shockwave. Unlike the typical shockwave that was focused in one direction, the shockwave was released in all directions, similar to what Jack had done during the Long Walk in the Collector base. The shockwave threw most of the cultists off their feet and for the first time Shepard saw that underneath their hoods and cloak were hardsuits. They all also wore weapons.

"Oh crap," he cursed as he saw a cultist activate his omni-tool. He quickly dodged an Overload mine then took out his M-300 Claymore. One other little known feature of the Claymore was that it was extraordinarily resilient, especially when it was used as a blunt weapon. He hadn't realised it until he saw Grunt using it as a club to liberally bash husks aside without it breaking and still firing it later with no adverse effects.

Which is what he did now as he biotically _**charged**_ into a group of the cultists. Fortunately, all of them did not wear helmets and each received a hard concussion as Shepard clubbed them down. He then quickly ran down the stairs in order to rejoin Taylor. But as he tried to descend the stairs, he found more cultists coming in.

The cultists unleashed their firepower on him and Shepard's only saving grace was that whatever guns they were using, they were old and not powerful enough to collapse his barriers straight away. However, he was forced by sheer numbers into one of the apartment rooms, a surprisingly large studio type with a wide window looking unto the street below.

The commander leapt over a furniture and overturned it to make an impromptu cover. His effort was barely rewarded as gunfire ripped through the sofa and clipped his barriers. He snarled and broke cover to unload a full load of concussive rounds from his Claymore as the cultists filled the apartment room. He got off two shuts which stunned five of the cultists before they were on him and a brutal scuffle ensued.

The commander was eventually overcome by sheer numbers as the cultists eventually pinned him to the floor. "We are the Harbinger of your perfection Shepard. Your species will be elevated to heights equal to our own. As we were your beginning, we shall be your end as well," the cultists chanted as one of them took out an Eviscerator shotgun and aimed it point blank at Shepard's gut. The commander roared in anger but was unable to escape even with his prodigious strength.

Suddenly he felt a rush of eezo fill the room, similar to what happened when he executed a biotic charge to a target location. This was exactly what happened as the window exploded and somebody charged right in the middle of the cultists pinning Shepard, landing his feet right on top of Shepard. The charge was so powerful, it knocked all the cultists off their feet into the walls of the apartment, some were sent out of the window, actually screaming as they plummeted five stories down.

In the next moment, Shepard found himself grappling with an extremely large man, the one who had just biotical charged to his rescue. He was clad in what appeared to be black Colossus Armour. The helmet was not the standard version however, and seemed to be styled like some demonic looking entity, with the eyes which glowed a ghastly red while the mouthpiece was a gaping maw with huge fangs, at first glance, it looked like a vampire. He was easily more than two metres tall, a full head taller and a lot bulkier than the commander who was no small person. And judging by the way he was wrestling with the commander, the person definitely had N7 training.

Shepard grunted as he was lifted clean off the ground by his neck and smashed against the wall. He was trying to use his biotics but his attacker gave him no chance to concentrate. He tried to look for his Claymore but found it had been kicked away from the brawl. Eventually he was forced down on the ground while the huge person pinned him with his body weight. He raised his right gauntlet and a wicked looking blade appeared out of it while his left hand gripped Shepard's neck.

The giant suddenly roared as he was hit by several taser-batons. He quickly swung a massive fist and literally swiped three police officers off their feet. But there were more police coming up the stairs and this time, they were pointing shotguns at the giant.

"Surrender at once! Put your hands in the air where we can see them!" the lead officer whom Shepard recognised as Mac Taylor roared.

The giant then threw a shockwave at them. But the officers also fired their concussive rounds which hit the giant, collapsing his barriers and punched him through a wall. As the officers were recovering, Shepard quickly went into the hole to confront the giant. He was about to get on his feet. This time Shepard didn't give him a chance and biotically charged him. The man was slammed against a wall again, his barriers depleted, and Shepard took the opportunity to smash his Claymore at his head. The man fell to the floor and finally lay still.

"Commander, you got him?" Taylor reappeared at his side.

"Yeah, just get him restrained before he wakes up, I don't want to wrestle with him again. There are other cultists in the building Taylor."

"My forces have cordoned off the block, no way they can escape this time," Taylor said angrily. "Good work on these few though," he commented looking at the cultists which had been knocked out by the biotic charge earlier who numbered at least ten.

"He can't be the only one that's fully armed and trained. I'll accompany your men to clear the building," Shepard said.

"Lead the way then, we'll cover you."

In this way they swept through the building and arrested an additional twenty cultists, all of which were well armed but none possessed the skill of the giant. Most of them fell due to Shepard's Vanguard tactics, preventing most of them from using their lethal firearms against him or Taylor's SWAT team. But there were still casualties, four of Taylor's men were killed. Add to the initial ten killed in the grenade attack, the result was both Taylor and Shepard being in foul moods when they faced the unmasked cultists and giant.

The cultists had all been carted back with maximum restraints to the prescint. Shepard and Taylor personally accompanied the cultists in the prison transport. All of them save the giant had been wearing cheap ECRS hardsuits, which also concealed their faces behind a helmet. Their helmets had been ripped off their heads when they were finally disarmed and restraint but despite being caught, all of them had the same blank look that reminded Shepard of red sand addicts. Not one of them said a word or had any reaction even after being manhandled roughly by Taylor's men.

Now Shepard and Taylor were in an interrogation room, with the giant securely strapped to a chair, his biotic amp removed. He was the only one of the cultists who showed any emotion, and cold fury.

"Alright asshole, you're going to tell us about your fellow loonies and where they've been taking their followers. We've already got you for assaulting police officers, obstruction of justice and possessions of illegal weaponry. Unless you have a million credits lying around, I doubt the judge will be letting you escape anytime soon."

"Maybe your questioning would be better suited for someone who actually IS a cultist?" the man coldly retorted.

Shepard took a hard look at the man. The giant was Caucassian with dark eyes and hair. He did look different from the blank cultists. His eyes bore a haunted look that reminded Shepard of Thane and it was clear from the dark circles that the man hadn't slept in days. Even stripped off his Colossus armour, which had been considerably modified to enhance strength and agility, he was still two metres high. What struck Shepard as odd was that apart from a belt compartment which nobody had been able to hack yet, the giant had been unarmed, not even with a pistol.

Taylor snorted. "You show up in a building full of cultists just as a grenade was dropped from that very building exploded, killing ten good men. You then proceed to attack someone who was NOT a cultist, delaying valuable time, then promptly resist arrest. Tell me, which part of this does NOT indicate you as a part of this crazy cult and by extension, the disappearance of all those people?"

"Check your own reasoning Detective. You will find the evidence you are trying to book me in as _circumstantial_. I don't even need a lawyer to be able to get myself out of jail," he replied. "Besides, if you think I'm the most suspicious character in the building, what about this character here? He has weapons an N7 can only dream off and armour specs which aren't even finalised in blue prints."

The commander was still wearing his Kestrel helmet masking his face.

"His identity is none of your concern. Yours is. He is here to investigate your bosses who have kidnapped hundreds of people. What's your excuse?"

In a chilling voice, the man replied, "The same as yours Detective, to track the cultists to their lair, and hang every one of the leaders in front of your prescint by their balls."

Taylor and Shepard were startled. "You are the Ripper?" Taylor demanded.

The giant laughed coldly and looked closely at Shepard. "I have to hand it to your boogieman there. Thirty years I've fought for justice and nobody has ever come close catching me. Even the Eclipse Asari Commandoes and Blood Pack Krogan Battlemasters were hardly worth my time. So unless Cerberus created another biotic monster with N7 training, I've just had my ass handed to me by the famous Commander Setsuna Shepard, N7 Marine, Vanguard Class, Sole survivor of Akuze, Hero of the Citadel and unless I'm very much mistaken, the avenger of the missing Terminus colonies."

Now even the Spectre was unnerved by the man's fantastic intuition.

"Though the fact that you worked with Cerberus makes me wonder if I should still cut your heart out and stake it at the top of the Empire's State building."

Taylor slapped the giant's head. "Pay attention Ripper, or should I call you Mark Conroy?" he taunted after checking his omni-tool which had just received the DNA identification of Ripper. "Sounds much less impressive then Ripper isn't it, which is why you made that fanciful name?"

"I did no such thing, your deadbeat predecessors gave me that name and before I knew it, it stuck," the giant barked.

Shepard finally said, "Enough, both of you. Lieutenant, I know it sounds crazy but just maybe he is right: we attacked each other mistaking the other as the cultist. He only appeared as the cultists were chasing me, and when we were fighting, the cultists did not assist him, preferring to run and hide."

He gazed at the man then removed his helmet, confirming Ripper's deduction.

"So it is true. The prodigal son returns from space to deal with human issues for once," the giant known as Mark Conroy said.

"Listen Ripper, Conroy, whatever. I don't have time to play word games with you. I have only one thing on my mind now: finding a very dear friend of mine who may have disappeared because of the cult. Figuring out the crazy cult's nature is secondary to me."

"You're telling me you came all the way here, ignoring your greater mission of warning the rest of the galaxy about your Reapers, to find just one missing person?" for the first time, the giant looked astonished. Even Taylor was shocked at Shepard's declaration which basically said he didn't give a damn about everyone else except the person he had come to find.

"Yes. And the bastards who did this to her? I'm going to hang them at the Ground Zero Memorial and let Varren nibble on them, starting with their testicles," Shepard said coldly.

The giant began laughing softly. "Perhaps there is hope for you after all. So the great human Spectre isn't so far above us petty mortals in the realm of hearts and minds."

"Like you Mr. Conroy, I never asked for the reputation I have. So here's the deal. Tell us what you know and in return, I'll let you go."

"Commander, you don't have the authority to do so, this is under the jurisdiction of the New York Police Department…." Taylor started to say.

"….. which is under the government of the Systems Alliance, and therefore part of Citadel Space, which also means that it is within my Spectre authority to release this man in the name of galactic security," Shepard finished.

"You bastard Shepard, you're abusing the authority given to you for personal vendettas. I thought you were better than this! You're no different from Saren!" Taylor said angrily.

Conroy looked closely at Shepard. "Tell me this first. Of what significance is the person you are looking for is to you?"

Shepard sighed. "I loved her once. I want to see if I can do so again."

Silence reigned for awhile. Eventually, the giant spoke, "Very well Commander. But I must warn you that even if you must leave me here locked up, you must act on my information now, which I'll give freely regardless of whether you release me or not. Is that satisfactory, Lieutenant Taylor?"

The detective didn't like the way this was going, but he realised that maybe this Shepard was more human than he was made out to be. This in Taylor's book was actually a good thing. "Agreed Mark Conroy."

"Then know this: the cult has an underground base which I've narrowed down to the far south side. Whoever is organising the cultists has to have guerrilla warfare and espionage training, which is why you cops haven't been able to get within five feet of them until today."

"Why is today any different?" Shepard asked.

"Because I actually spread rumours that you, Commander Shepard, were here in New York, ostensibly to meet with the Tenth Street Reds. The building you stormed in was actually one of their safehouses. As I expected, the cultists made the Reds disappear shortly before your forces arrived. I saw the grenade drop from the next building and immediately went into the building intent on tracking them. That's when I bumped into you Commander."

"If you already knew where their base is located, why did you bother with trying to ambush those cultists?" Taylor asked.

"I discovered husks near the south side, which I knew was linked to the Reaper threat. Shepard was rumoured to be living while the Collectors were rumoured to be destroyed. The cult only started after that rumour. To me, this meant that the cult was somehow interested in Shepard. Or rather, their leader was interested in Shepard."

Conroy looked murderous. "I wanted their leader, and I thought spreading rumours that you were with the Reds would be enough to draw him out. I didn't expect he would send his lackeys to subdue humanity's best hero, nor did I expect said hero to actually show up."

"Any idea who this mysterious cult leader is?" Shepard asked.

"No, but whoever he is, he is charismatic and knows how to brainwash his cultists. The ones I caught and interrogated only revealed information under extreme torture to break through the psychological conditioning."

"I have enough information to track their base now. And since I've failed to draw out their leader, a search and destroy mission is now the only option we have. I'm willing to bet they know you are here as well Commander. That'll mean whatever fiendish plan they have, they'll do it real soon. Before that can happen, we must strike now, and strike them hard."

Shepard asked, "Can you give us the information that'll lead us to their base?"

"It's in my omni-tool, which I'll transmit as soon as I give it to me. But I warn you Shepard, I have no idea what you're up against beyond poorly trained cultists with military grade hardware. I've never fought the husks but I can say that even they terrify me."

"Remind me afterwards to tell you how I went through the Omega 4 relay and smashed the Collector's base with almost no intel, and lived to tell the tale with ALL of my crew still alive," a pang of regret hit Shepard as he remembers the friends he held dear and left behind a few days earlier. Not for the first time, he wished they were here by his side. But this was not their battle, it was his.

And he was damn well going to win this battle, not for the sake of the galaxy, but for the sake of a woman he loved. Despite being agnostic, the commander found himself praying to whatever god was out there listening to heed his prayer that Ashley was alive and well.

To be continued…..

**Author's note**

There's I've done it. My own OC and yet NOT my own OC. To those who do not catch the hidden names and meaning, Mark Conroy is an amalgam of two names. Kevin Conroy is the prestigious voice actor which has voice Batman numerous times across many mediums, most famously the Batman: The Animated Series. Mark Hamill, apart from his most popular role being Luke Skywalker, has voiced the nemesis of Batman, Joker, for the past twenty years as well.

It is my fervent wish and hope that Bioware will see fit to employ either of these two great voice actors for Mass Effect 3 playing any new characters they can come up with.

BTW, if you read this far, do me a favour and leave a review or message. Otherwise I have no sense of how my story is doing, which is kinda depressing. Even if you think it sucks, please say so and be done with it. At least then I'll know that I should stop wasting my time on this.


	7. Chapter 6: NYC Sewers

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (17/2/2011)**

Author's note:

Patience all. The rest of the team and Ashley will come very soon. Also for the purposes of my story, N5 marines will be based on real life Marine Recon, another special branch of the USMC.

Sorry for the long wait guys, intended this to be longer but it seems more like a filler. Hope you enjoy it. Flame me if you don't.

**Chapter 6: NYC Sewers**

The Ripper re-armoured himself while Shepard, Taylor and three other constables stood by. Upon closer inspection of the Colossus Armour, Shepard realised that even the design of the armour had been adjusted aesthetically, specifically the upper torso had been enlarged with overlapping plates reminiscent of dragon scales, making the Ripper even more massive than he already was. Shepard was also willing to bet that Ripper himself had heavy muscle weaving to carry that enormous armour and still move like a Vanguard. His lower body armour was more or less the standard Colossus' configuration, save for a large and heavy looking belt where there were several compartments hiding Ripper's tools and weapons.

His gauntlets were especially remarkable. On the sides of each arm were three sharp fins as long as an inch. The fins were serrated and probably monomolecular sharp. There was also a long compartment extending the length of each arm, where a retractable blade was hidden, the same one Ripper tried to use on Shepard.

Once again, Shepard noted the lack of firearms and mentioned it to Ripper. The vigilante bristled when he was asked.

"I don't need guns. Justice needs to be served up close and personal, with the guilty fully aware he is about to die. I won't grant my enemies the luxury of a blissful death by sniper fire."

Shepard snorted. "Even a Vanguard needs a shotgun. Your blades aren't going to mean jack shit against a Revenant machine gun. At least take a pistol…"

"I DON'T NEED GUNS!" Ripper roared as he extended his blades towards Shepard. The other four policemen immediately levelled their pistols at Ripper but the commander showed not the slightest amount of fear.

"In that case, you will fight closely with me in case we run into heavy coverfire. If the leader you spoke off is truly a genius at military warfare, he is bound to have anti-Vanguard countermeasures. With me, they will reckon without my prototype weapons courtesy of Cerberus," Shepard said in a commanding tone.

"You're asking me to fight as part of your squad? You are insane. I fight alone," Ripper snarled.

"If you're truly as fanatic about justice as everyone says you are, then wake up and smell the Reapers! There's a cult of assholes down here that's worshipping a race of AI dreadnoughts and are even now probably preparing for their return. A lone Spectre or a lone vigilante isn't going to bring them down. Either we work as a team or we will fail. Cover my back and I'll damn sure cover yours Ripper. Even I didn't take down Saren and Collectors alone," Shepard said icily.

After awhile, the blades retracted back into Ripper's gauntlets. "God damn hero, I always expected an N7 like you to work better alone."

"I was alone in surviving Akuze. I don't intend to do so again," Shepard retorted then checked his omni-tool. "You're sure that the information you have here will lead us to their base?"

"Absolutely. I even spotted many of the cultists going into the tunnels in that area. Wherever their base is, its somewhere in the South Side Quadrant 37."

Shepard turned to Taylor. "Lieutenant, do you have a plan on how to approach the base?"

"The Quadrant is just too large, there's over forty blocks of buildings and tunnels to cover. Even if I get my entire precinct involved, we can't establish any sort of net to trap the cultists from escaping. There's too many avenues which the cultists could disappear if they spot us snooping around," Taylor said. He then glared at Ripper. "And I doubt the Commissioner is going to commit the entire NYPD to cordon off the area on the suspicions of a murdering vigilante."

"Stupid cops, always unable do what's necessary to destroy the criminals in this city," Ripper snarled.

"We do everything we can within the law! There's a reason it exists, so that nobody else decides to become Hannibal Lectre when he or she finds that others don't behave a certain way!" Taylor replied.

"Enough both of you. We can't cordon off the area and we don't have any hard proof that the cult is where Ripper says they are. So we're going to get that proof. You and Ripper know this city better than anyone. We can go scout the area and record proof that they are there. We can then transmit the information to your Commissioner and he can bring the hammer down on those cultists."

"You're suggesting we take a stroll in the most violent part of town alone to sniff out a horde of raving cultists? That's insane commander," Taylor said.

"We don't have a choice. If I use my spectre status to compel your commissioner to do what I want him to do, he might delay me by going through political channels, by then the whole of New York will know what we're up to. Besides, you were a Marine Recon. It's time to dig out those skills. We're going hunting."

xxxxxxxxxxx

The three of them, Ripper, Taylor and Shepard travelled to the area known as Southside Quadrant 37 in an unmarked police sedan driven by Ripper. The rest of the precinct's forces were left behind at a checkpoint nearest to the Quadrant that would not draw undue attention, seemingly helping to quell the riots. They would be on standby, ready to act on Taylor's orders and evidence to relay to the other police forces and National Guard.

Taylor was decked out in a Heavy Duelist Armour, something he had kept from his Marine Recon days and somehow was allowed to keep. In addition, he was also equipped with a Vindicator rifle, a Predator Hand Canon and a Mantis Sniper Rifle. The ex-marine also brought an extra heavy weapon: a Revenant Machine Gun for suppressive fire, which made the Ripper sneer.

"Yep, that will bring the whole house down on us, including the cultists," he said.

_**Paragon Decision**_

Before Taylor could retort, Shepard said, "Be prepared for anything. If worst comes to worst, we're blasting our way to get the cult leader. But don't forget this, our primary objective is finding the missing people and discover what happened to them. If they're lives are in danger, our primary objective is to get them out. I don't care if the cult leader escapes, we're not losing any more innocent people to their predations."

Taylor said, "As much as I want to save the missing people, don't you think it's more important we cut off the head of this serpent first? We can't allow the cult to re-establish itself somewhere else and kidnap more people into its mix."

"I hate to admit this, but I agree with the cop. The missing people are innocent, yes. But if we don't exact justice on the cult leader, people are going to end up missing again," Ripper added.

"Fine. If it boils down to rescuing the missing people and hunting the cult leader, both of you can do it. For myself, I'm tired of hunting the bad guys, let me protect the innocent for once," Shepard said, irritated.

The other two unlikely allies looked at each other and shook their heads. "Alright we'll do it your way Shepard. If the cult leader gets away, I'm coming after you personally," Ripper snarled.

"I might even let you. Now come on, let's find the missing people."

Ripper parked the unmarked car next to an abandoned building. When Shepard and Taylor exited, he proceeded to make a series of scratch marks and even punched the car in a few places to give the car a distinct battered look. He then took some rubbish from a nearby dumpster and strewed them around the car. This was to camouflage the car and make sure it wasn't stolen in case they needed it to escape. He then lead them into the back alleys of the Quadrant.

For Shepard, it was a haunting experience. Since enlisting into the Alliance military, he had done his best to forget and leave the violent gang life behind him. The days of constant violence, thieving, gang-running and drug dealing was a nightmare that haunted him occasionally. He hated everything about the slums and wondered for awhile why he was still considered himself loyal to the Systems Alliance when they still allowed such poverty to run rampant on the homeworld of the humans.

The Ripper kept leading them down stairs which led to the underbelly of the projects housing the poorest civilians. The sky had long disappeared and they were truly in the catacombs of Brooklyn now. And then came the part which Shepard had been expecting and dreading at the same time. Just when Shepard thought he had entered the smelliest and most destitute part of the slums, Ripper pushed aside a garbage dumpster, revealing a grate that could only lead to one place.

The sewers.

Despite both of them wearing their combat helmets, the Ripper took one look at Taylor and Shepard and laughed, knowing their disgust. "Welcome to my world, 'heroes'," he mocked as he took hold of the grate with both of his hands and ripped it off, revealing a dark tunnel that forced both Shepard and Taylor finally turn on their air filterers. The Ripper dramatically took a loud sniff and sighed contently. He then jumped into the tunnel and the other two could hear him sliding down.

"Follow the crazed vigilante down into alligator infested sewers. This day just keeps getting better and better," Shepard remarked.

Taylor snorted. "We'll be lucky if alligators are all we meet."

Shepard nodded grimly then took out his Claymore while Taylor unfolded his Vindicator rifle. "I'll go in first, be prepared for anything," he said before he lowered himself into the tunnel and started sliding downwards.

The tunnel was dark, damp, slimy and unusually steep and slick. Even with all of Shepard's heavy armour, he still slid down at a fast speed. The N7 had never been down a water slide but if he had, it would have felt like one if not for the fact that the sewer was slick due to the sludge of shit and urine.

The slide down was unusually long, almost a minute. Just when he thought the tunnel would go on forever, Shepard suddenly found himself submerged in sludge. He had exited the tunnel right into a river of sewage.

Fortunately the sewage was only waist deep and Shepard manage to get himself upright. Suddenly remembering Taylor, he quickly moved out of the way from where he was. Just in time, he heard a splash then a string of violent curses.

"Wow, the cop can cuss. I'm impressed," Shepard's and Taylor's vision focused on Ripper, who was standing on a catwalk above the sludge, completely dry and clean.

It was then both realised that they could actually see Ripper because the tunnels were lit with a strange red light. Light that eerily reminded Shepard of Saren when he was transformed into a Reaper controlled husk. It was very dim, just enough to make out the outline of the sewers and the sludge movement.

Shepard and Taylor hauled themselves out of the sludge unto the catwalk then checked their weapons. Aside from their dirty exteriors, their armour and weapons remained functional. Shepard turned his gaze towards Ripper, whose demon helm looked even more menacing in the dim red light.

"Where are the lights coming from? I don't see any light sources," Taylor wondered as he looked around.

"Stay tight, switch to Image intensification. The light will wreak havoc on your eyesight," Ripper advised. He then activated his omni-tool, which instead of glowing orange, gave a thin grey glow. The model wasn't like anything Shepard had seen before. He then began to walk down the catwalk.

Shepard walked behind Ripper, his Kassa Locust out while Taylor followed behind with his Vindicator. The Ripper still used no firearms, although his posture was typical of Vanguard close combat techniques. The three unlikely allies walked through the maze of sewers which only Ripper seemed to know. To Shepard and Taylor, this was totally out of their experience. Both had learned and experienced urban combat but it had never covered tight spaces in a tunnel filled with shit.

"How are we going to avoid early detection devices?" Shepard whispered.

Ripper brandished his omni-tool. "My omni-tool can pick up any on the way, and will also mask our presence as though we aren't here. Handy thing, picked it up from a thief who owed me one years ago."

Shepard raised an eyebrow in his helmet. "Wouldn't happen to be a Japanese girl in a hoodie would it?"

Ripper was surprised. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Let's just say I was with her in a heist at Donovan Hock's estate in Berkenstein. She was part of my team invading the Collectors as well."

"Charming girl, always knew she had potential other than thieving."

"I'm surprised that you actually admire this thief, considering your fanatic view of crime," Taylor remarked.

Ripper snorted. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have found Mike Bataglia and he would still be peddling thirteen year old virgins in Quadrant 14 today. Of course we had a little argument when I skinned the asshole and hung it on the Brooklyn Bridge."

Shepard shook his head. "How much further Ripper? Can we still transmit if we go any deeper?"

Taylor said, "I've been hiding transmitter markers along the way. As long as we don't lose our trail of breadcrumbs, we should still be able to transmit no matter how deep we are."

"Unless of course they decide to jam us, in which case they know we're here and we're fucked up anyway," Ripper said.

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine!" Taylor snapped.

"Enough, both of you. The missing people aren't going to find themselves. We have to keep moving and….."

Ripper suddenly jerked his head. "Sshhhh! You hear that?"

Shepard and Taylor became very still and strained their audio receptors. Then Shepard heard it: a low moaning sound.

"Oh crap. Everyone, in the shit NOW!"

As quickly as they could, the three of them submerged themselves in the sewage until only the top part of their helmets from the visors up was still visible. They lay in that position for awhile, listening intently for anybody or anything coming their way. But somehow, they saw no one even though the moaning did not cease.

"Ripper, you picking up anything?" Shepard whispered.

"Nothing. Whatever's making that noise, its far away."

"Taylor, arm your Revenant. Husks attack en masse without any regard for protection of its life. Full auto fire is the way to deal with them. Ripper, the husks are very vulnerable to biotics, don't charge straight into them. Just use shockwave or throw. Don't charge straight into them without cover fire."

"I don't need your advice, I can rip them apart on my own…."

"They will overwhelm you! When you see a husk, chances are you will be facing a hundred to one odds. Even on Horrizon with only three squad mates, we encountered at least half a thousand of them and were nearly overwhelmed. And at this close quarters, they'll swamp us. If we fight husks, it'll have to be out in the open with plenty of room."

Ripper sighed. "Fine, but only because we're assuming that this IS a Reaper cult."

"Trust me, only husks make that noise. If they're not here, its because they're somewhere else. Now let's move out."

They decided to move out of the sewage despite the cover it offered. If anybody decided to attack them, the water would limit their mobility and make them vulnerable. The Ripper seemed to be on edge, constantly looking around and waving his omni-tool around.

"This is strange. We should have set off some monitoring devices by now, but so far nothing. And where the hell is that husks noise coming from? I can't scan any yet the sounds are there."

"Please tell us you didn't lead us down the wrong tunnel. I thought you infiltrated their base," Taylor hissed.

"I said no such thing. I merely tracked many of the cultists all back to this part of the sewers," Ripper said, clearly puzzled. "Back then, there WERE monitoring devices, now there aren't."

Shepard was also worried. "I don't like this either. Keep pushing on and stay frosty."

"We better reach the cult base soon, I'm running out of remote transmitters," Taylor said.

The three of them pressed on, Ripper leading the way. Occasionally he stopped to examine the surroundings, sometimes scanning with his omni-tool, sometimes with his own senses to track any signs of the cultists. By his reckoning, the area had definitely seen a lot of traffic although someone had tried to clear the tracks.

"Down to my last transmitter now," Taylor said worryingly.

Ripper suddenly stopped and the three of them saw that they had come to the end of a tunnel. The tunnel ended with a large pool of sewage, at the edge of it opposite the entrance, was a large door that looked decidedly archaic. It looked like a large, round and ancient sewage door, which was opened by turning a steel wheel. But the odd thing about the door was that it wasn't rusting away from decades of misuse: it looked relatively new and well used judging by the lack of grime around it.

"That's strange, I never saw this door before," Ripper said.

"I don't like this Shepard. This is the furthest we can go, after which we'll be alone and without anyway to call for help. We also haven't seen any conclusive evidence of the cultists being around. Maybe its better to call for backup," Taylor said.

To everyone's surprise, Ripper also agreed. "As much as I hate to agree with the cop, he's got a point. There's too much we don't know about this place and the vibes I'm getting makes even me uncomfortable. This stinks of a trap Shepard."

Shepard shook his head. "No, we can't take the chance that they're here and we missed them. Besides, we're still hearing the husks around. They've got to be here somewhere. "

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to send back coordinates of this location. At least someone surface side will be able to know where we last disappear and send help accordingly if we don't make it," Shepard added.

Taylor nodded. "Reasonable enough. I'm sending in the coordinates now. If we don't communicate within an hour, my officers have permission to send a SWAT Team to our location."

"Do it. On the bright side, if we do walk into a trap, we'll know for certain that the cultists are here," Shepard said.

Ripper laughed grimly. "True Shepard, very true indeed. Then we'll show these Reaper fags the meaning of fear."

"Information sent," Taylor said. He then trained his Revenant on the door.

"Let's get this thing opened," Shepard said as he trained his Kassa Locust on the door as well.

Ripper then flexed his impressive bulk and took hold of the wheel mechanism with his meaty hands. The mechanism turned slowly but surely as he poured his massive strength into it. Once he heard a click that indicated that the locking mechanism was opened all the way, he heaved against the door, pushing it opened. When it was opened wide enough, Shepard went in cautiously followed by Ripper, and then Taylor.

The three of them found themselves in what seemed to be an old abandoned subway tunnel, one that was built sometime in the 21st century and had now fallen into disuse for almost a century. There was even an old subway car sitting on the tracks, with the fading words 'Amtrak' on one side.

To their right, the tunnel was blocked by an avalanche of stones. To the left, the tunnel continued with the end not in sight. Like the sewers, it was also lit with the dim red light.

Then the three of them heard it: the moaning sound was now increasingly louder and it was in the direction of the sewers which they had just come from. Ripper looked back through the tunnel and swore.

"Now why didn't we think of checking the shit just now?"

Out of the sewage pool, there arose the stuff of nightmares: skeletal figures like zombies still clad in their rotting flesh. Except instead of rotting flesh, the flesh looked like it had been turned to blue or red metal. Their ghostly eyes glowed red and blue, their gaping mouths wide in eternal torment. All of those eyes were now turned towards the three in tunnel.

"Holy shit! Ripper, close the door now!" Shepard shouted as he switched his ammunition to incendiary while Taylor did the same. The husks then started running towards the entrance. Taylor's Revenant roared as it let loose a volley of deadly incendiary rounds while Shepard's did the same. The firepower pushed back the first few husks to make it to the edge of the sewage pond but more were emerging from the it.

Ripper meanwhile used his prodigious strength to push the door closed but it seemed slower to close than it was to open. The husks were nearly at the door now despite the suppressive fire from Taylor and Shepard. But Shepard has been saving his biotics for last. Just as Ripper was about to close the door and the first husk reached it, Shepard glowed blue and let loose a narrow shockwave which repulsed the husks immediate crowding the doorway and it was closed.

The vigilante quickly turned the wheel lock and then pointed his index finger on it. A laser beam shot out and melted the inner locking mechanisms, effectively destroying their means of escape, as well as the husks. At the same time, Shepard and Taylor used their incendiary ammo to seal the edges of the door as well.

As the three of them surveyed their handiwork, Taylor said, "Well we're really in it now. That's the only way out we know off and the other side is a possible nest of cultists. How we're going to get out after rescuing the missing people, I have no idea."

Shepard sighed. "We'll cross that bridge when it happens. No point worrying about what might come, especially when we haven't found the missing people yet."

"Relax Shepard. I've got some ECRS High Explosive Grenades and a block of old fashioned C4 if it comes to this," Ripper said.

"What the hell are you thinking carrying around high explosives like that?" Taylor shouted, shocked that the Ripper was not carrying guns but had ordinance capable of levelling a city block.

"Oh I was thinking how the Tenth Street Reds headquarters in the Westside Quadrant 15 will look like as a pile of rubble," Ripper replied nonchalantly.

Shepard glared at Ripper. "Keep the ordinance and your murderous thoughts for the cultists. Move out!"

And so the three unlikely rescuers plunged in further into New York City's underbelly in search for the lost people.

_To be continued..._

Author's note:

I hope it wasn't too disappointing guys. Trust me, the next chapter will see more familiar faces. Constructive criticisms, flames and complaints are welcome, either through review or personal messages.


	8. Chapter 7: Abominations

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (9/3/2011)**

Author's notes;

Sorry about the delay people. Was quite sad that nobody reviewed at all the last chapter, but I realise I should complete the story regardless of the response. After all, I do have the perfect save the day scenario planned out already as well as a suitable ending.

Anyway, enjoy. Hope you'll leave a review or flame in the end.

Chapter 7: Abominations

Ripper led the way once more, cautiously followed by Shepard and Taylor. The vigilante still had no firearms but he seemed to be holding something in his right fist, while his left arm was pointed forward with its omni-tool still scanning for threats and surveillance devices. The commander wondered where they were right now relative to the surface. He had tried to keep track of the sewer directions but it had been over an hour since they descended down the slums of Brooklyn into the depths of the sewers. He decided to ask Ripper about their location.

The vigilante was silent for a moment before answering, "There's a good chance we're actually under Manhattan now, at the rate we're going."

"Would make sense if the cultists are able to pop up all over Manhattan as well, if this truly connects to the old subway tunnels that weren't destroyed in the Second Civil War," Taylor remarked.

"You would have thought someone would have explored these tunnels and updated the city grid just to make sure the tunnels don't have secret cultists or terrorists. This whole place is an insurgent's dream base," Shepard said.

"Nobody ever went this deep in the last 30 years since I started out. Didn't even know it still existed, the Second Civil War was supposed to have levelled most of Manhattan, including the subway system," Ripper replied. "Guess someone else got here before us."

The tunnel was reaching its end now: the trio could finally see the blocked end of the tunnel approaching, and right before that, a subway station. But now there was something different in the environment.

"Shepard, people have been here. Recently. Lots and lots of people," Taylor said. Indeed, there were plenty of tracks and other tell-tale signs of activity in the area.

"Stay frosty. If that's true, it's only because they feel secure enough not to monitor this area, which means we're getting close," Shepard warned.

Just then, Ripper's omni-tool bleeped. "Scratch that hero. This IS the place, and we're about to receive the whammy."

As if on cue, Taylor's kinetic barriers flared and he was knocked down face first into the floor. He grunted in pain as the wind was knocked out of him and Shepard was glad that the shot failed to penetrate his barriers. The Spectre swore and fired a splattering of submachine gun fire in the general direction of the shot, which had come behind them.

"Sniper!" Shepard yelled as he tried to see into the shadows where their attacker was hiding. Ripper however, threw a number of objects from his right hand. The objects looked like little discs which suddenly expanded into what looked like Australian boomerangs which flew straight for awhile then suddenly curved towards a piece of rubble. A strangled yelp was heard and the boomerangs flew back towards the Ripper, this time dripping with blood as they retracted into little discs. That was not the end of it though as Shepard heard the sound of more people pouring into the tunnel behind them.

As he helped Taylor to his feet and hurriedly climbed into the subway station off the tracks, assault rifle fire whizzed past them. "Damn it, where the hell did they come from?" Shepard snarled.

Ripper looked at his omni-tool and then towards the ceiling. He swore even more violently. "Bloody shit, how did they come down those manholes? They can't have entered the sewers through Fifth Avenue!"

Taylor was now firing his Revenant, the steady stream of machine gun rifle momentarily drowning out their would-be attackers and earning them a reprieve from the attack. "What the hell? Now I'm reading at least thirty contacts."

"Everyone up the station now!" Shepard roared. Ripper then reached into one of his many belt pouches and pulled out a grenade.

"Fire in the hole!" he shouted as he hurled it at the shadowy red figures that were starting to appear from the other tunnel. Taylor and Shepard stopped firing and shot towards the subway station. The grenade exploded with not only concussive force but also a huge flash which temporarily illuminated the tunnel with white light dispelling the red. The force of it knocked back ten of the cultists and blinded more who were behind them.

Shepard took a deep breath then focused his biotics. At the same time, the Kassa Locust was attached to his hip and from the small of his back while he took out the massive weapon that was the M300 Claymore Shotgun. Ripper was doing the same thing, only instead of a shotgun, his wicked looking wrists blades had extended.

"I'll take the left side, you take the right. Taylor, gun down the middle," Shepard ordered.

"Acknowledged," both responded.

Then Ripper and Shepard charged: two bolts of biotic energy that crossed the space of twenty metres in one second. The first cultist to see Shepard was lucky: the Spectre only smashed the side of his head with his Claymore, knocking him out. The next one tried to train his assault rifle on Shepard but was torn to shreds when Shepard shot the Claymore, shredding his body to smithereens despite his armour and shields. The destructive power of the Claymore at close range meant that the cultists may as well have been wearing cotton shirts to protect themselves. The Spectre repeated this formula occasionally killing but choosing to knockout the cultists, most of which while armoured, wore no helmets.

Ripper's victims were less fortunate however, no one he set his sights on survived. Though the cultists were armoured, his blades crackled with a strange blue glow and cut through them regardless of shield or armour. Taylor marvelled as he watched from afar. He had thought the Ripper would fight like a brawler due to his massive size or at least marine hand to hand. But for the Ripper, there was no wasted movements, all of his stabs were at critical areas which always incapacitated his opponents, leaving him free to move on to the next cultists.

As Shepard and Ripper continued to clean their ranks, more cultists appeared. Now the three of them could see that the tunnel had been riddled with secret hatches that had been camouflaged to look like the rest of the tunnel. They hadn't stumbled into the entrance leading to the base, they WERE in the base. With the amount of cultists entering the tunnel, sooner or later they would overcome the three would-be heroes with sheer numbers.

As soon as they were finished dealing with the first batch of cultists, a barrage of assault rifle fire came down on them, forcing even Taylor to take cover. Shepard and Ripper quickly got into some cover but they were effectively pinned down.

"Taylor we're pinned down. Where's our cover fire?" Shepard shouted,

"Too many of them! They've got snipers waiting out there for me! Ask that vigilante if he has anymore fancy toys to use!" Taylor retorted.

Ripper said, "As a matter of fact, I do. On my mark Shepard, break cover and get to Taylor's position."

"What are you going to do?"

"Throw up some cover!" and with that, Ripper stood from cover. A hail of assault rifle fire hit his barriers before they collapsed. Before the barriers collapsed, he managed to throw several brick like items between Shepard and the cultists. Shepard was horrified when the bullets hit his armour and penetrated it, knocking Ripper back.

Fortunately, when the bricks hit the ground, they unfolded themselves and suddenly a half sphere shield blossomed. Shepard was suddenly reminded of the mobile shield walls that the Geth liked to use when defending positions. Now there was a lull in the firing as the new shield walls absorbed the fire from the cultists. Shepard took the opportunity to bolt to Taylor's position near the subway exit. At the same time, he grabbed Ripper before he fell and pushed him backwards.

"Get out of here now! Up the stairs, double time!" Shepard shouted. Taylor nodded and all three moved up the subway exit. When the mobile shields finally collapsed, Taylor once again let loose a hail of Revenant rounds to discourage pursuit then ran with the other two. Ripper reached into his belt once more and pulled out a grenade.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" he shouted as he threw the grenade at the incoming cultists. Taylor stopped his barrage and rushed along with Shepard and Ripper up the stairs. They all heard an enormous explosion behind them as well as the sound of falling rocks. The tunnel actually trembled and Shepard was somewhat puzzled that Ripper had such heavy ordinance with him yet refused to wield a gun.

The three of them found themselves in another corridor, while behind them, the passage was blocked by a bunch of stones. Shepard sighed. "There goes another escape route. This day just gets better and better. I'm sorry I had to drag you two with me on this crazy mission."

Taylor replied, "Don't apologise Shepard. The fact you are here doing something about the disappearing people shows that you care about humanity and aren't just some aloof hero the Alliance cooked up. Sooner or later someone had to do this. Better us than someone else."

Ripper snorted. "In any case, I never give myself any escape route. That way the only path I can take is forward not backward, which is exactly what you are doing now Shepard. Now let's rescue this girl of your and rip the cult leader's heart for my dinner."

The other two shook their heads. "Let's move, and cut down on the cannibal talk Ripper. If you want to eat them, do it far away from us," Shepard warned.

Ripper was about to retort but then looked at his omni-tool. "I'm detecting life signs. About two blocks west of us."

"Cultists?" Taylor asked.

"Possibly. I can't tell for certain, although they're most certainly human, not the husks we saw earlier."

Shepard once again took out his shotgun. "I'll take point. Ripper, you make sure we're clear of any patrols, Taylor, you've got our backs again." The other two nodded and the three began moving eastward as directed by Ripper. All of them were tensed, knowing that they were in the cultists territory and the only eyes they had was Ripper's extremely advanced omni-tool.

After a while, they heard a new sound: the dreaded moaning of husks, but also the cries and weeping of humans, many humans. Shepard quickly picked up the pace as fast as he could without sacrificing stealth, his heart beating as he wondered what lay at the end of the long corridor.

The corridor ended and what the three saw was hell on Earth.

They were on a catwalk looking at a huge cavern as big as a football stadium, larger in fact. The place where they had entered was near the roof of the cavern, while below was what looked like a combination of a dungeon, labour camp and foundry. All along the sides of the wall, there were cages filled with people, far more people than the 200 Taylor had mentioned officially reported. There appeared to be thousands, all stuffed into the cages, most of them naked or barely clothed. All of them appeared terrified and not indoctrinated by Shepard's experience.

But even more horrifying, was the rows of devices lay at the end of at least ten conveyor belts. On each conveyer belt, lay rows of screaming men and women, all appeared clamped to the belts. Each of the belts began with one of the cages, and at each cage, a human seem to be randomly pulled out by the red hooded cultists who filled the entire facility.

They were feeding the humans to the end device. The device which ended the screaming of a human, into the eternal moaning torment of a husks.

"My God, dragon's teeth," Shepard whispered.

The other two were similarly horrified, even the Ripper. The vigilante had seen much over the years, but the horrors of Eden Prime and the Collectors were beyond his experience. The whole scene reminded him of a gothic painting, where sinful souls were picked from a pit by horned demons and thrown into the pits of hell. Only now the hell was right underneath one of the most important cities on Earth, and the demons were a race of AI dreadnoughts.

"Shepard, I hate to say this, but your friend and her sister went missing two weeks ago. At the rate they're feeding those people to the machines, I doubt they're still alive…. I mean, still human," Taylor said. A cold but calm fury engulfed Shepard. His eyes searched all over the cultists as well as the cages, trying against all hope, to find his two objectives: Ashley and the cult leader.

He then gasped as he found both.

There was a commotion in one of the cages as the cultists were trying to get one of the humans out of the cage. Whoever had been selected was putting up one hell of a fight. Then he saw the tell tale flash of a taser and the cultists dragged out the limp form of Ashley Williams. Near that cage, there was a large group of culttists who were observing her. One of them stepped forward and lifted Ashley's head to face him. He then unhooded himself.

Shepard's first impression and guess was the Ilusive Man himself. After all, the Cerberus leader HAD subjected his own people to become husks before, even if he claimed it was accidental or necessary experiments. The man was white and was dressed like a Southern Baptist Preacher. His eyes were human but even from Shepard's distance, he could see that they were filled with madness. This wasn't a person who had been indoctrinated to the Reaper's service: this appeared to be a man who had voluntarily given his heart and soul to the Reapers.

Suddenly his voice boomed throughout the cavern. "Such a shame to waste a pretty one like you. I always did like my women a little feisty. I'm sure it turned on your pet Spectre as well. Isn't that right, SHEPARD!" and with that, his eyes turned and stared straight at the three of them from far away.

The catwalk they were standing on suddenly detached from the wall, while the entrance was sealed by a door. This sent them plummeting ten stories down unto the dungeon floor. Fortunately for them, their power armour allowed them to land without breaking any bones. The three of them quickly stood back to back to each other facing what looked like hundreds of cultists, all armed with an assortment of weapons pointing at them.

"Welcome Shepard, to my church! Here you will receive your ascendance and salvation!" the cult leader said joyfully as he threw open his arms to Shepard. The Spectre was enraged at the sight of Ashley's still twitching body. Like her fellow prisoners, she was barely clothed in rags and from the look of her body, it looked like it had been abused in a way that Shepard knew too well from his gangster days.

Biotic energy filled him and before Taylor and Ripper could stop him, Shepard charged at the cult leader. The phenomenal speed and power enabled him to dash even through the horde of cultists and husks that surrounded the leader. The Spectre was firmly seeking to blow the head off the cult leader.

But instead of charging right into the cult leader, Ashley Williams appeared before him a split second before contact. Shepard gasped and stopped his charge right in front of Ashley Williams. The Alliance Marine, still beautiful despite the bruises that marred her face, managed to crack a swollen eye open and beheld Shepard's armoured form. Despite the helmet, she knew who he was.

"Skipper?"

"Ash…." Shepard managed to say before he screamed. Dozens of cultists surrounded him and prodded him with huge tasers in the form of forks, reminiscent of cattle prods. So powerful was the current pouring into the forks that it penetrated even Shepard's Kestrel armour and overwhelmed his senses. From afar, similar screams were made as Taylor and Ripper suffered the same fate.

As Shepard's armoured form slumped unconscious in front of Ash, the Alliance marine cried and tried to move but the cult leader, who had a hand firmly behind Ashley's neck and had been the one who put Ash between Shepard and himself at the very last second of the charge, smacked Ash at the back of the head. Ash fell unconscious beside Shepard.

"Oh this is so sweet and romantic. What a wonderful addition you will be to our church. Your love will make the light of Harbringer even brighter as our race ascends!" he said in a joyous tone.

To be continued…..


	9. Interlude

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (11/3/2011)**

Author's notes:

Sorry mates, we break away from the Earth saga to bring you this very special message from the Normandy SR2.

Interlude

_One week earlier, ten minutes after Shepard's departure_

"HE DID WHAT?" any illusion the crew had of Miranda Lawson being a totally emotionless ice-queen was lost when they heard that furious roar. Tali's helmet automatically dampened the volume so as not to damage the Quarian's sensitive hearing. Even then, there was no mistaking the winces of everyone's face as they faced the wrath of the Normandy SR2's XO.

"Repeating, Shepard-Commander left the Normandy SR2 ten point six seven minutes ago, utilising the Kodiak and setting a course for the Pantheon Mass Relay. It is believed that he will travel to Earth to investigate the disappearance of Alliance Marine Operations Chief Ashley Williams along with rumours of a Reaper worshipping cult on Earth," Legion repeated in his monotonous voice. In spite of that, the frequent flapping of his head flaps somehow betrayed his own puzzlement on Shepard's actions.

"And you all just let him walk out? I know Shepard, if he walked out on you all, it means that YOU ALL must have royally pissed him off. Especially the two of you," Miranda spat, pointing at Tali and Garrus.

Both of them couldn't blame her. Looking back on what they had said to Shepard, they realised that they had been rather callous due to their animosity towards Ashley, not realising just how deep the Spectre's feelings really went for the Alliance Marine.

"Well, what exactly did you say? Wait, never mind. EDI, I want a playback of what happened in this conference room NOW," Miranda barked. The AI, whose holographic representation had been silently observing the proceedings from the conference table, vanished. A holographic representation of the meeting earlier held was played out for the rest of the crew.

"Who is this Williams? Was she the battlemaster's mate? Is that why he went to Earth, to reclaim his mate from an unworthy suitor?" Grunt asked.

"Ex-girlfriend with trust issues actually," Garrus replied. "You didn't meet her on Horrizon, when she almost ripped out the commander's heart."

Grunt snarled. "Then I would have cut her heart out and gave it to the commander as replacement."

Miranda looked like she had simmered down. "Hard to believe that Shepard can carry a torch so deep. We all know he's extremely charismatic, loyal and even loving to those under his command. But his psych profile indicated nothing about loving this deep."

Zaeed unfolded his arm. "Let's forget about Shepard's love issues a minute. Shepard mentioned rumours about a Reaper worshipping cult on Earth. A cult that's been abducting humans right at our doorstep never to be seen again. Sounds familiar to anybody?"

"Fuck yeah, it sounds like Collector wannabe's on Earth," Jack spat.

"It doesn't make sense. Earth may have ten billion people at this point, but there's no way you can build a Reaper from abducted humans without a lot of people noticing. And from what I've heard, a lot of people have noticed and are already taking action against this cult. This goes against Reaper M.O., they tend to operate behind the scenes as quietly as possible. That's why they only went after human colonies on the Terminus," Miranda mused.

"We all know the Reapers have an interest in the human race. Maybe this isn't about building a Reaper. Maybe this is something else, planting a Reaper base on humanity's homeworld, ready to join the Reapers when they finally come?" Tali suggested.

"Creator Tali Zorah's suggestion is logical. The Reapers are not above using agents to destabilize organic governments to herald their coming. Saren Arterius-Spectre and Geth Heretics are prime examples. Probability is high that they will do something not just to Earth, but all other species in known galaxy," Legion agreed.

"Or the reasons of Reapers are far beyond understanding of organic species and Geth Collective. Whatever the reason, something is happening on Earth and it just so happens to affect a person to whom Shepard is greatly attached to. I agree with Tali, that the Reaper's are up to something, but I also think it may even be personal," Jacob quipped.

"Ordinarily I would scoff at the idea of machine AI being vengeful and petty, but after all the effort Harbinger went to capture or kill Shepard, both when he was alive and dead, I think it's safe to say they have it in for Shepard. What worries me now is him, battling what could be Reaper agents, this time without his crew," Miranda said.

"OK, OK, we're sorry alright," Tali snapped. "I'll admit that maybe we just hated Ashley's guts and wanted to wash our hands of her affairs, but it didn't change the fact that we have a Geth-Quarian summit in less than two weeks! We needed Shepard at the summit, going to Earth would have delayed the trip."

"You trusted Shepard before, why couldn't you trust Shepard when he said that you would be ready to chair the summit with Legion without him?" Miranda retorted.

"We all know only Shepard can do the impossible. Legion and I can't. We're talking about ending a three hundred year old feud between an organic race and its synthetic creations. I can't even trust myself not to blow up Legion when we're alone sometimes, how can I be the arbiter?" Tali confessed.

"Then you're just a stupid child who hasn't grown up from idolising Shepard," Miranda said angrily.

"And you're a Cerberus bitch who thinks she can do everything but in truth can't, even with all your unholy modifications," Tali snarled.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone was startled when they heard the voice and turned their heads towards the shouter.

"We can play the blame game until we all shoot each other, or we can save Shepard from his own demons," said the ship's resident master thief, Kasumi. "Shepard dropped everything to help us before going after the Collectors. You all heard him, he helped us at the expense of nearly a million men, women and children who could have been rescued earlier if he had just headed for the Omega Relay. He thinks that those million lives rest solely on his shoulders."

"Well I for one am not going to let him shoulder it alone. It's my fault too that I asked him to get my partner's greybox just because I couldn't let him go, at the expense of the colonists. So unless you guys drop this kindergarden blame game and own up to your mistakes, I want to be off this ship at the next station and will be heading to Earth. No way am I going to let Shep deal with this alone."

Silence engulfed everyone as the digested Kasumi's words. The thief was worried, despite what she had said, she knew that the Geth-Quarian summit wasn't something to be brushed off.

"EDI, request comm connection at the next communications buoy. We will inform Geth Collective about unavoidable circumstance delaying Geth-Quarian summit," Legion was the first to speak to everyone's surprise.

"EDI, I'll need the conference room after this to connect with the Migrant Fleet. I'll send you special encryption protocols to communicate with the Admirals," Tali said.

Everyone burst into smiles as they saw what Tali and Legion had done. The Quarian was blushing underneath her mask although none could tell it. "We've waited three hundred years to get back our homeworld. What's a few more weeks or months?"

Kasumi sighed in relief. The Shepard family was still strong even without their head. The Commander had indeed trained his family well.

"Request acknowledged Tali Zorah, Legion. Also I would like to highlight that before Shepard left, he also made a communication with Detective Armando Bailey at the Citadel. It is possible he was trying to acquire police contacts to help him out in New York City," EDI said.

Miranda stood up. "EDI, download every piece of news, no matter how insignificant about this cult. Garrus, Jacob, I'm going to need your help sifting through the information in the next week."

Zaeed swore lightly. "Guess we'll be visiting that dirt ball we call homeworld after all. Oh well, I may as well get my whiskey stocks replenished with something homegrown and genuine."

Garrus laughed. "I guess a trip to humanity's homeworld is long overdue. With the Reaper's obsession with Shepard, I wouldn't be surprised if Earth isn't the first world they hit when they arrive."

An ominous silence engulfed everyone. Even Garrus felt a shiver down his spine as he said those words. It ended when Tali gave a sharp smack to the back of Garrus' head, making him yelp.

"You bosh'tet. Stop saying such horrible things. Now come on, we've got work to do…."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

It was late at night when Miranda went to the conference room, at a time when she knew most of the ground team was asleep. She hated to do what she was going to do, but if Shepard was in grave danger, they needed all the help they could get.

And there was only one organisation who knew everything there was to know about humanity.

"Ms. Lawson, are you sure about this?" EDI asked.

"No, but I don't think we have a choice. Patch me through to the Illusive Man EDI."

The AI was silent for a while, then said, "Connection established. Patching you through." The conference table sunk into the floor at the same time the lights dimmed. Miranda took a deep breath and walked unto the conference table, letting the holographic scanners wash over her form.

For the first time in months, the former Cerberus cell leader was facing her ex-boss.

"Miranda, this is indeed a surprise. I would have thought after your 'resignation notice', you would not have anything to do with me again," the Illusive Man sneered.

"As Shepard told you, you get what you deserve. And what you deserved was a champion of humanity that reminded me of the value of all life in the galaxy, not just humans."

"We'll see who's right when the Reaper's come and you throw your morality at them as a weapon, instead of the technologies of the Collector base," he retorted. He then took a long drag from his cigarette. "I can see that it wasn't regret of your resignation that brought upon this call. So Shepard can't have screwed something until you saw reason to come back to Cerberus. Where is the commander by the way?" he asked as he sipped his whiskey.

"Right now, heading for Earth."

It was a remarkable sight indeed, seeing the Illusive Man actually choke on his drink and staring at Miranda in disbelief. It was also a testament to his self-control that he didn't ask Miranda to repeat herself.

"Miranda, we have our differences but I firmly suggest that you switch course away from Earth. Now is not the time to visit humanity's homeworld."

"You're mistaken, Shepard went to Earth alone, the Normandy is still en-route to Illium."

His expression was remarkably similar to Miranda's when she first heard of Shepard's depature, "HE WENT ALONE! Miranda, if you were still part of Cerberus, I'll terminate you on the spot right now. Do you have any idea what's happening on Earth? How dangerous it is for the Hero of the Citadel to be on Earth?"

"If you're referring to the Reaper cults, then yes, I'm aware of them. And it is my belief that they kidnapped Ashley Williams in order to lure Shepard to Earth."

While the Illusive Man showed no emotion at the mention of Ashley, Miranda knew him well enough to know he was surprised at the news of Ashley.

"We both know that the Reapers' interest in Shepard. Now they've gone out of their way once more to start a cult on Earth to capture him. Shepard is still the key to defeating the Reapers. Without him, no one will be prepared when the Reapers come. You may lament the loss of the Collector base, but in the end, Shepard is still the best counter to the Reapers. Only he can bring the galaxy together and defeat the Reapers. You knew that when you brought him back, and I know you still believe it even after the destruction of the base."

Repeating the words she said so many years ealier, "If we lose Shepard, then humanity may well fall. And although I've broken my ties with you, I will follow this one directive of yours: I will not lose Shepard a second time."

The Cerberus leader and his former protégé faced each other for a few long minutes, contemplating each other's words.

"You've changed Miranda," he said.

"Being with Shepard does that to you. Perhaps you should consider joining his crew in person."

"Unnecessary. He may be the right hand of God that strikes from the light, I must be his left hand that strikes from the shadows. We're both needed if humanity is to survive," he said, puffing on his cigarette again. He then clicked a console near him.

"I'm sending you files on all the activities of this cult since we first heard of it. Needless to say, they worry me almost as much as the Reapers. Analyse them and call me back when you're done. It appears that I'll have to help save my rogue investment from destroying himself," he sighed.

"Put it this way. If we succeed in our mission, maybe, just maybe, he won't put a bullet in your head if we ever decide you've gone too far."

The Cerberus leader smiled thinly. "I've already gone too far Miranda, further you can ever imagine. Needless to say, it's an offer to ponder over."

To be continued…

**Author's notes**

Hope you guys like the interlude. Some of you have been clamouring for the old gang, and I think its time I gave you it. Once again, constructive criticism or flames through reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 8: Review Horizon

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (18/3/2011)**

Chapter 8: Review Horizon

Pain. That was all Shepard knew. For time out of mind, he had been taken to a dark chamber lit only with the red twilight characteristic of the Reapers. There he had been stripped of his armour, weapons, biotic amps and clothes, his wrists bound behind along with his ankles, and then subjected to a beating most brutal when the cultists filled the room. A beating which he was fairly certain would be fatal if not for his cybernetic enhancements.

It was no simple beating however. Despite their brutality, his tormenters were careful not to actually break or damage anything beyond repair. It was as though they were also aware of his cybernetic enhancements and were deliberately maximising his pain without permanently damaging him.

This was the first time that Shepard had actually been captured by the enemy. Fortunately, his N7 training did provide some psyche training against enemy torture. Right now, he was barely holding on to the training, preventing himself from screaming too loud in order to deny them satisfaction. But he knew that ultimately, time was on their side. No human could withstand torture forever without breaking, not even he. Especially when the torturers also had a close friend nearby.

"Fascinating. Cerberus technology truly blows the mind away. To think that they actually managed to bring back a man back to life, just like the biblical Lazarus. Unfortunately, that would make you an abomination since God clearly didn't bring you back," the beating stopped, allowing Shepard to hear the voice. The commander's left eye was almost completely swollen shut, while the other could barely open a crack. It was just enough to make out the figure of the cult leader, still in his spick and span parish outfit.

"Get him up and clean him. I want to talk with this Beast, this Deceiver that the lord warned us off."

Shepard was dragged unto his feet , unceremoniously dumped into a sitting position on a worn wooden chair and then bound to it as well. Some of his torturers then started to apply medi-gel to the worse of Shepard's wounds. Water was also forced into his mouth but Shepard choked and spat it out as much as he could.

"Now now Shepard, just because you're an infidel doesn't mean I can't extend you common courtesy, after all, the lord says love the sinner and not the sin," the preacher said. The commander spat out what water he could anyway then glared at him.

"He also said to beware false prophets and liars who twists the words of the Bible to their own selfish gains. As you are definitely both," Shepard said sharply.

The preacher was startled then chuckled. "Of course, from the book of 2 Peter itself. I know you are not a god fearing man, so where could you have learnt that? From the fanatic traitor Williams no doubt. Although you should know that Jesus himself is a false prophet, the Moslems got that right at least among their blaspehmies."

Rage threatened to overwhelm the commander as the preacher mentioned Ashley. "Pretty low for someone claiming to be a prophet of God, using an old friend as bait to get to me."

"Ah but my god is full of grace, he'll forgive me this little infraction as long as it fulfils his purpose. That purpose being to save your soul from the alien heathens and elevate humanity to the lord's side," the preacher beamed.

Shepard snorted. "You brought me all the way just to attend your church? Sorry, not buying the whole God thing. All I see is a wannabe Saren with delusions of grandeur, only without the powers of a Spectre and loves to kidnap innocent people for your precious cult."

"Ah but don't you see? They are all willing! We never take any against their choice, my god did give us free will after all. It's not my fault that they lose faith in the process only to discover that once you come in, you can never go back."

"You fucking liar! I saw the cages, your willing flock is nothing but scared people."

The preacher's face soured slightly. "Whether you believe it or not, they were given a choice and were not allowed to go back on it. Now they will all be saved even if unwillingly. So it was during the times of the Crusades, before we were beaten back and forced to appease the heathen Moslems."

"And look how that conflict turned out? A thousand years of warfare until the 21st century culminating in the senseless War on Terror. Now you would start it all again, only this time instead of humans fighting humans, you're turning humans into cybernetic monstrosities to be slaves of the most terrible threat this galaxy has ever seen."

"Ah Shepard Shepard Shepard. Even now you still accept that the coming of times is near and your so-called Reapers are in fact the heavenly host of god. Don't you see? Man's sin against god has finally reached its apex. When that time comes, the lord will finally come down to cleanse the universe of the unclean and save the faithful. I'm merely helping to purify the faithful before the time comes, especially when we will do our part against the unclean aliens of the galaxy."

Shepard snorted. "Charming. I think I knew a guy like you who thought giant monster squids are gods. H.P Lovecraft I think. What happened to him I wonder? Oh yeah, dead in a gutter somewhere alone and abandoned even by his fans."

The preacher's face darkened. "How dare you compare the lord my god to the twisted Cthulu mythologies?"

"They both resemble squids don't they?"

The preacher viciously smacked Shepard's head. "I suppose they do, like your blasphemous Asari allies. Unlike the blue filth which you share your bed with though, my god is the lord of lords, and he will change the galaxy for the better, ushering a new paradise which I'm still willing to let you in."

Shepard spat out blood then chuckled. "Let me see, paradise with a host of squid worshipping zombies or a harem of Asari, which by the way, I have never dated let alone had sex with. I think I'll stick with the Asari."

"Just like you heathen to take the choice of sin instead of the narrow gate to heaven."

The Spectre looked straight into the preacher's eye. Gone were the mirth and amusement used to mock the preacher, replaced by the steel gaze of a man who was an N7 operative and Spectre.

"Listen to me you deluded religious fanatic. You are dealing with a power that is neither omnipresent nor omnipotent. You are not even dealing with a benevolent race of aliens. You are dealing with an evil that has consumed this galaxy beyond time immemorial. You think you're going to be saved by worshipping them? Some of the geth tried to do that and Sovereign didn't give a shit about them. You want to know what it's like to serve the Reapers? The Collectors are what's left of the Protheans, repurposed into mindless drones whose only use is to help the Reapers with the harvesting of all civilised organic life. Do you hear what I said? MINDLESS! Not paradise, just a mindless existence dedicated to a race of synthetics. THAT is your god. THAT is what you are steering our race towards!"

The preacher looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. He backhanded Shepard so hard that the Spectre was rocked off balance to the ground, still bound to his chair. Then the pain started again, the cultists didn't even bother to unbind him from the chair, they just kicked and punched while he was still attached to it, reducing it to pieces of wood. In spite of the pain, Shepard was somewhat relieved he was dealing with an actual delusional man, not a real Reaper indoctrinated slave. That way, he didn't have to worry if the man was indoctrinated into doing the Reaper's will or not.

Which made the preacher fair game for the kill. If Shepard could get the chance that is. Amidst the beating, the preacher said to Shepard¸ "You will have to excuse the crude methods but it seems that in order to save your soul, it'll have to be purified by pain. After all, we should all emulate our lord who suffered for us."

Shepard spat out some broken teeth. "First you call Jesus a false prophet and now you're saying emulate him? Your followers must be really stoned with red sand to believe your nonsense." He grunted as a particularly hard kick cracked some of his ribs. The cultists must be wearing steel capped boots to penetrate the heave weave of his body.

"Your holiness, his blasphemies knows no bounds. Can't we just end him and the other traitors? They should burn in hell, not be saved!" some of the cultists ranted.

"No my flock. They will serve the lord one way or another. It appears that they'll have to be baptised in my lord's holy blood and light," the preacher said menacingly. "Continue to purify him, I must see to our other guests. They require my… special attention," he made sure Shepard could see his lecherous grin.

"You sick bas…" Shepard tried to roar before another kick interrupted and dislocated Shepard's jaw.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Skipper?"

Amidst the haze of pain, Shepard woke to a voice he had long missed. He groaned and tried to move before realising his body was a mess of bruises. He was however, unbound and his head was lying on something soft. Several of his teeth were still missing and he coughed rackingly.

"Easy there skipper, try not to make sudden moves. They may have used medi-gel but I think you've got some internal bleeding, you're coughing out blood."

It was then that he managed to open his swollen eyes and finally saw the source of that beautiful voice. Ashley Williams was looking down on him. His rage was rekindled when she saw her once beautiful face marred by the same savage beating he had just endured. She appeared to be wearing extremely tattered remains of her marine fatigues, which barely covered her modesty.

With some difficulty, Shepard managed to mouth, "Hey. Fancy meeting you here."

Ash smiled grimly. "You know, I specifically told you years ago that I don't need a knight in shining armour to save me. Yet for some reason, people keep using me as a damsel in distress to get to you. Can't say that makes me happy Shepard."

"Not my fault. I'm willing to bet that if Kaidan were here, everyone would have used him to get to me as well. Wherever he is, I think he's glad that he doesn't have to be bait all the time," Shepard replied.

She laughed softly. "I don't think the LT would have put your head on his lap Skipper. But yeah, he would hate being the damsel in distress waiting to be rescued."

"Some rescue this is huh? Instead of sweeping you on my horse with my loyal knights Garrus and Tali at my side, I skulk the sewers of New York city with a cop and a vigilante instead," Shepard said sadly.

"Yeah, where are those two? Not to mention the other Cerberus lackeys that were assigned to you?"

"They're not Cerberus lackeys anymore Ash. They're loyal to me now, dedicated to protecting the galaxy from the Reapers. They trust me to the ends of the Earth now, especially since I saved them all from being liquefied into Reaper blood," Shepard retorted a little sharper than he wanted to. Unbidden, the memory of Horizon came up.

Ash winced at Shepard's reply. "I guess you've always had that effect on people."

"So why didn't it affect you? Why is it that in the end, the only ones who trusted me without doubting my sanity was the so-called alien members of my team? Why didn't you trust me when we met on Horizon? Garrus and Tali joined me in a heartbeat trusting in my judgement of working with Cerberus. Even WREX said nothing of my Cerberus crew and happily gave me an armshake that nearly ripped it off when I met him on Tuchanka."

"Look Shepard, I was sorry I went down on you like that! As I mentioned in my e-mail…."

He snorted. "Oh yeah, you really think you can mend the rip in my heart with a little e-mail and poetry from a long dead philosopher," he said as he forced himself into a sitting position.

"What was I supposed to say Shepard? You think life's been great for me while you were gone? You think it was easy hearing about you getting spaced from Joker? You think it was easy attending your funeral? You think it was easy splitting up with the first crew that ever gave a shit about me and in turn I gave a shit about? And by crew, I do mean Wrex, Garrus, Tali and Liara. After all our talks, I had just warmed up to them. And then the Collector's attacked. The Council forced the Alliance to hush everything up and the Alliance kowtowed to them, just as I warned you it would."

"I'm not buying your sob story Williams. Garrus, Tali and Liara went through hell as well and they didn't call me traitor. Garrus spent a year at Omega fighting criminals before they wiped out his team and nearly got his hide. Tali's been running missions for the Migrant Fleet since her Pilgrimage, given by her bloody perfectionist of a father. And Liara's been truly alone the last few years. We killed her mother, remember?"

Shepard looked at Ash. "So yes Ash, I do know that the past two years wasn't a cakewalk for any of you. By the way, waking up from a coma and discovering that two years of my life is gone isn't exactly a cakewalk as well. Nice to know the galaxy still doesn't believe in Reapers and that my old squadmates have been split up. And guess what? I owe my life to a human supremacist organisation hell bent on human dominance in the galaxy, the same bastards who made me the Sole Survivor of Akuze. God I hate that name."

"Tell me Ash, what was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to do when I discover that the Alliance left the Terminus colonies to suffer a fate worse than death and only Cerberus was taking action? How do you think I felt, forced to deal with the devil when the Alliance, the Council, hell, even God all but abandoned me in my hour of need?" Shepard shouted his heart beating fast as he railed at Ash.

The Alliance Marine was shocked at Shepard's tirade. This was a new side of Shepard she had never seen. Shepard, who had always been diplomatic to everyone, had never once raised his voice and ranted his own feelings. The mask of invulnerability and heroism that characterised Shepard had been cracked, revealing a very human soul, upon which had been thrust the responsibility of saving the galaxy.

It was then that Ash truly felt ashamed of her actions.

"Skipper, I know nothing I say can take away what I did at Horizon. You're right, I had no excuse to call you traitor, not after everything you did, for the Alliance and for me. I'm… God this sounds pathetic, but I am sorry for what I said. If I could turn back the hands of time right now, there's nothing I would rather do then join you again in sailing the stars."

Shepard sighed. "What's done is done Ash, and nothing can be done to undo it. Even if you had turned up in person to apologise, I still wouldn't have accepted you. You tore a hole in me that day Ash, and you also appeared to be as xenophobic as when I first met you. I don't think you would have gotten along with the team."

"That's where you're wrong Shepard. If I had joined your team, sooner or later, you would have shaped me up into the team. I just wish I had that chance again," Ash said softly.

"My so called leadership is overrated. I was always a part of team, whether it's the Normandy SR1 or the SR2. I didn't take down Saren alone, I did it with you, Tali, Garrus, Wrex and Liara. I didn't take down the Collectors, it was done with 14 of the craziest bastards in the galaxy including myself."

Ash shook her head. "And you think I have issues in self-esteem. Shepard, you are great and are destined for greatness one way or another. I for one no longer believe it was Cerberus who brought you back. They may have used science to rebuild your body but only God could have brought your mind and soul exactly the way you are two years ago."

"Somehow I don't think discussing God is appropriate here, considering the mad church we're in."

Ash bristled. "Don't call it a church. It gives a bad name to all the rest of us God fearing people."

"Fine, temple of crazed Cthulu worshippers then."

"You know the works of H.P. Lovecraft?" Ash said in surprise.

"Read a little of it during my Alliance recruitment program. I never thought there could be real intergalactic squid monsters until I saw Sovereign. Hit a nerve with that idiot preacher though, he looked like he was about to burst into flames when I called his god a giant squid."

Ashley laughed. "Glad you scored one on him. Wish I could have seen his face, would have been worth having him touch me with his filthy hands."

Shepard's attention was suddenly brought back to Ash's body. His earlier anger ebbed away. "Ash, what did they do to you? And where's Sarah?"

"How did you know about Sarah?"

"Your mother and sisters were so worried and desperate that they sent me a message shortly after you disappeared.. That's why I came to Earth to investigate."

Ash lowered her head. "So even after all I've done, you still came for me?

"Yes," Shepard said softly. "As strange as it seems, I think I still loved you. Before going through the Omega 4 Relay to stop the Collectors, you were the only thing I could think about. I thought to myself, if stopping the Collectors and Reapers meant that you and your family could live in peace, then it's a good enough reason to save the galaxy."

"I loved you Ash. And I think I love you still."

"Skipper… Shepard, God, I've missed you," the walls finally broke down and the two of them instantly closed the space between them with a warm embrace. Tears ran down Ash's cheeks and for the first time since the Normandy SR1 was destroyed, the two marines felt that all was well. For Shepard, he was actually overjoyed and was even tearing up a little as he felt the warm embrace. It was ten thousand times better than the initial hug on Horizon which ended so badly.

Eventually they broke the embrace and kissed each other gently. When they broke off, Ash sighed. "Looks like you haven't lost your touch Shepard. You didn't happen to practise with Tali or that Cerberus woman did you?"

Shepard chuckled. "No I didn't, and believe me, it wasn't for their lack of trying. Miranda did try to come on me but that was because I saved her sister. As for Tali, well, let's just say our little Tali blossomed into a fully mature woman. Mature enough to flirt with me directly."

"She always did look up to you Shepard, and it wasn't always from a hero worship perspective. I wish she were here now, she would hack this place's security in seconds. By the way, why did you come without crew?"

Shepard sighed. "For the same reasons I just ranted to you. Believe me, the two of them were quite pissed off at you and didn't feel I should go help you. Plus there's a Geth-Quarian peace summit that I'm supposed to chair but I felt Tali and Legion (a Geth on our side) was up to it."

Ash was amazed at the mention of a Geth and was about to comment about it before biting her tongue. "I should have guessed that only you can talk a Geth into peace talks."

"There's more to the story Ash, and I wish I had the time to tell you all about it. Right now though, we've got to get ourselves out of here. Where's Sarah by the way? Is she alright?"

Ash's face fell. "I honestly don't know Shepard. I haven't seen her since I came into this madhouse, but that bastard priest keeps comparing me to her when he…. touches me. He's a sadistic son of a bitch, I think he's keeping us all alive to prolong our despair. Now that you're here though, I don't think he has any reason to keep us from turning into husks now."

Shepard growled. "We'll tear him a new one before he gets the chance. Any moment now, the entire NYPD and National Guard should be coming down on these cultists."

"I do not think so Shepard, especially not since we picked up all your little breadcrumbs," the sickly voice of the preacher entered the cell. Instinctively, Shepard placed himself in front of Ashley as the cell door opened.

"I must admit that this Lieutenant Taylor is very resourceful in planting his transmitters. Unfortunately, he is Alliance trained and I happen to be ex-Naval intelligence, so I know all the latest toys the Alliance has for Intelligence gathering."

Shepard and Ash's heart fell at the revelation but still remained defiant. "You better run while you can asshole, we already sent the transmission before we stumbled on your lair. It shouldn't take long for them to come down on…."

"It would Shepard, if Lieutenant Mac Taylor's subordinate actually relayed his coordinates to the police commissioner. Unfortunately, Taylor's subordinate Sergeant Chris Metzen is in fact a valued member of our congregation. So no, I'm afraid that help will not be coming from the NYPD," the cult leader said sinisterly.

The N7 cursed himself for his stupidity once more and knew that his luck finally ran out. There would be no rescue. He would die on the city he hated and cause his loved one and her family to suffer.

"So Shepard, now that everyone has been purified with pain, I guess the next logical thing I can do for you is to introduce you to the lord and become one with him. And just to show you that I'm truly merciful and in line with my lord's teaching, you, your friends and this whore of Babylon can all be baptised together!" he said joyously.

"You bastard, we all know I'm the one you want, let the rest of them go," Shepard said desperately, despite knowing such a plea was futile.

"And spare you all the glorious salvation? No Shepard! You will all be one with the lord forever!" he shouted and then red hooded cultists flooded the cell. Shepard and Ash put up a terrific fight as they came but were eventually beaten into unconsciousness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"_The Beast and the Whore of Babylon will be saved tonight Chris Metzen. Do not be late for this glorious event. You have done the lord proud indeed. I will pray for you safe journey here."_

"Thank you your holiness. I will make my way as soon as I can. The salvation of the lord be upon all of us," Sergeant Chris Metzen said to his master inside his private office in the precinct. He then hung up and then tried to engaged a scrambling program to mask the origin as well as the destination of the transmission.

Before he could press the button to scramble the signal though, the shadows lengthened. A pair of arms came out of the shadows and wrapped itself around Sergeant Metzen's mouth and neck. The corrupted cop could only squeak in terror before his life was ended with an audible _crack_. As his body slumped to the floor, the same hands which ended the life went to the communications console and attached a small device to it. Those hands then returned to the shadows.

"The Lamb is about to be sacrificed. The Lord will provide for Isaac," a thin rasping voice spoke even as sunlight shone through the window, illuminating the dead body and dispelling the shadows where the hands came from to reveal nothing hidden there.

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 9: Oh Captain my Captain

**Shepard's Loyalty Mission: The Cult of Harbringer (28/3/2011)**

Chapter 9: Oh Captain My Captain

Deep beneath the bowels of New York City, the congregation of a mad church gathered once again. The eerie cathedral was filled to the brim with thousands of hooded figures, all singing, praying or screaming their praises of their god. No unifying songs or hymns lead them, each were praying to their own reckoning. Nevertheless, amidst their incoherent rambling, an atmosphere of joy permeated the air.

The floating stone stage was once again set high. Instead of just one dragon's teeth preparing for sacrifice however, there were six. The entire church was also packed with additional guards which were spread throughout the congregation and around it, not merely near the stage this time. In addition to the Turians who made up one third of the guards, there were at least twenty hulking hooded figures which could only be Krogan. All armed to the teeth but even the guards seem to be enjoying the atmosphere. One would occasionally murmur or sing his own prayer.

In the middle of the church, a huge pit had been dug in. Into the pit was huddled more than a hundred men, women and children, most of which were frightened out of their lives. All of them appeared to have been taken from all walks of life in New York; some bore the ragged clothes of the slums, while others looked like they shopped at Fifth Avenue. A group of them huddled close together looking grim and defiant, their steely demeanour betraying their gangster status. They were all scared but determined to go out like men while they still could. In spite of them being from different gangs, they still banded together. Still, being in what could only be a sacrificial pit still put fear in their eyes.

This was the sight Shepard saw from a hidden room. His widened in recognition at some of the gangsters who were Reds, one of which was Finch.

"Familiar yes? I thought you might appreciate the audience of your own fellow scumbags. Hard to imagine that the great Commander Shepard came from such scandalous roots," the preacher said.

"Oh please, the Reds didn't succeed in using my past with them as blackmail. Why should you?"

"Blackmail? My dear Shepard, we are beyond blackmail now. Now, we are at the point of joyously saving your soul! And not just your soul alone," the preacher exclaimed. Shepard snarled but his hands were bound by him, and in addition he was being held at both sides by two massive Krogans. A door to the room opened and the other sacrifices were escorted in, similarly bound and guarded. Ashley Williams, Detective Mac Taylor, Ripper, a young woman who could only be Sarah Williams due to her resemblance to her sister, and a young man Shepard did not know.

"I don't believe you met the instrument of all of your captures: the lovely Sarah Williams. This one other is Brian Bailey, the son of your C-Sec stooge, Armando Bailey. We were joined by him only recently but I thought it would be delightful for you all to be saved together."

""You God-damned death worshipping scum! I didn't join you!" the youth shouted in anger.

"Easy kid, it's going to be alright," Shepard said, trying to convince Brian as much as himself.

The two youths looked at Shepard and gawked. "Commander Shepard?"

"Not quite the big hero Spectre now isn't he?" the preacher cackled.

The woman looked up and down at Shepard then said, "Damn, you're cuter in person than you are in vids. Can't believe my sister dumped you just because you were dead."

Ashley sighed. "Sarah, now's not really the time to gawk at my boyfriend, especially when we're about to be sacrificed to the devil."

"But he is Commander Shepard! He can do the impossible. Which means he has an escape plan right? Right?" Brian Bailey said hopefully.

Shepard felt even lower. Not only had he got himself trapped, he was dooming countless others to join him.

"There's always hope son. Just keep looking for it to the last minute, because I'm not giving up yet," Shepard said.

The preacher meanwhile was looking at Ripper. The hulking human looked as bashed up as Shepard but he looked like a Krogan Battlemaster in battle rage, straining against his bonds and Krogan guards, teeth bared and snarling.

"So this is the infamous Ripper of New York City, the feared vigilante of the underworld. Somehow I expected you to be a little… smarter than falling for this trap," the cult leader mocked.

"At least I'm smart enough to know your god is a bloody robot squid," Ripper growled. The Krogan guards seem to have some difficulty keeping him in place, a testament to Ripper's abnormal strength.

The preacher's face changed instantly. His drew his hand to smack Ripper but just as his hand was about to smack his face, the vigilante turned his head just in time to bite on the preacher's hand. Before anyone could do anything, the Ripper's teeth clamped down and he bit of a sizeable chunk of flesh from the preacher's right hand. The preacher screamed while the Krogans pulled the Ripper back and proceeded to administer a beating to him. However, the Krogans seem reluctant to beat him with anything other than shock sticks instead of their fists.

Only the other five would be sacrifices were impressed. "Wow, you really are Hannibal Lectre in the flesh," Ashley Williams said when the Krogans stopped beating the vigilante.

Ripper gave her a blood soaked grin as he still chewed on his bit of the preacher's hand. "You aren't my type so no, I am not. If you read the Hannibal Lectre series, he only ate those he considered a menace to society, as well as those that threatened the FBI detective he so admired."

The preacher's hand was bandaged. For a moment his eyes blazed with rage and they all thought that he would finally kill them without going through the trouble of indoctrination. And then his insane smile and joviality returned.

"Come now my black sheep, your salvation awaits!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

There were shouts. There were curses. There were even rotten vegetables and garbage thrown at the six sacrifices as they were all escorted unto the altar. All of them looked defiant and were still struggling and fighting with all they had. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and this time, the guards were not lax and did not take any chances with their charges.

Most of the people in the pit fell into further despair when they saw the six sacrifices from the edge of the pit. The preacher had made sure Commander Shepard was visible as they passed the pit. Even the gangsters looked resigned to their fate as they saw the best of humanity beaten and restrained with only one possible fate. Shepard caught the eye of a Red enforcer known as Finch and nodded grimly. The gangster was surprised that the Spectre acknowledged him but nodded back with grudging respect.

The six of them were not laid on the dragon teeth spikes straight away. They were all displayed in the front of the stage, three on either side of the preacher who stood on a raised dais to prepare his greatest sermon.

_ "Today…. THE LORD HAS ANSWERED OUR PRAYERS!"_

Mad cheers and hoots were heard as the congregation erupted in joy.

_"Did he not say, ask and you shall receive? Knock and he shall answer? Did we not ask? Did we not knock?"_

"WE DID!" the congregation replied.

Ashley, who was next to Shepard, snarled. "That guy is seriously twisting every word in the good book."

_"And now, from the depths of space, from beyond the Omega 4 relay, from the bowels of the demon infested place called the Citadel, the lord has delivered us COMMANDER SHEPARD! THE BEAST! THE DEMON! THE ONE WHO WILL BRING THE END OF TIMES! THE DARKNESS THAT WILL CONSUME HUMANITY AND FOREVER TEAR US AWAY FROM THE GLORIOUS LIGHT OF OUR LORD HARBRINGER!"_

_ "The lord Harbringer's grace knows no bounds. He truly works in mysterious ways. By capturing the whore of Babylon, we ensnared the beast himself. Now do we have the means to prepare the way to the lord! For the lord is indeed coming and only by spreading the light of Harbringer can humanity truly be saved."_

_ "But just as the lord's grace has given us Shepard, so too must his grace also be extended to this beast, this demon, this spawn of Satan. So join me in prayer my flock! Pray for salvation of the beast so that we may all welcome together the coming of the lord harbringer as one big happy family of god! OHBOOGASEEASDAGOROGUTAOHGOHEO…!"_

As one, the congregation erupted in nonsensical prayer. Both the Williams sister looked nauseous and repulsed by this corrupted version of Christian praying. For Shepard, his mind was still racing on how to get out of this but nothing came out.

"Shepard, it's ok. You came for us. That's more than anyone expected. More than what I expected," Ashley said loudly to him. She then cried as one of her guards viciously punched her in the gut. The Spectre couldn't do anything but shout in impotent rage as he was held firmly by his Krogan guards.

The preacher eventually ended his nonsensical prayer and raised his hands to silence the crowd. "Pray in silence now my brothers and sisters. The hour is at hand. Let the lord Harbinger's archenemy be purified! But first, does the beast have anything to confess? This is your last chance my beloved enemy, confess your crime and be spared the pain of conversion as you are purified into my lord's helper."

All of the eyes in the cathedral were on Shepard now. The commander stopped struggling and appeared resigned to his fate. He muttered a few words at first which could barely be heard. One of the preacher's attendants produced a microphone in hand and put it near Shepard's mouth.

"You're all going to hell."

At that moment, several things happened. The entire cathedral shuddered as though rocked by earthquake. Then the guards in the room were suddenly converging on towards the doorways of the cathedral. Almost every cultist suddenly produced a sidearm. The preacher's face soured immensely as his attendants whispered in his ear.

"That's impossible! Sergeant Chris Metzen is loyal! He couldn't have revealed our loc…." Then part of the wall farthest from the altar exploded. Most of the cultists were thrown back and then to the preacher's horror, he saw heavily armoured riot police enter the cathedral.

"This is Commissioner Tara Gordon of the New York Police Department. Drop your weapons immediately! All armed personnel will be shot on sight!"

Almost immediately, the congregation charged at the riot police with side arms firing. The police responded with a hail of rubber bullets while most hid behind powerful riot shields. Some began throwing tear gas at the cultists. The cultists swarmed into the riot police but instead of being pushed back, the riot police stood firm and even gained ground as more police were behind them pushing their comrades forward.

Most of the guards however converged on the altar while the rest attempted to herd the captives in the sacrificial pits into doors which had just opened in the pit. But the captives, realising that this was their last chance to escape, were resisting the guards even as some were shot down. The gangsters however, set upon the guards with brutal street fighting fury. They killed the guards with their bare hands and commandeered their weapons.

The preacher was outraged and confused at the same time. To be honest, so was Shepard. It almost seemed too convenient that help arrived just as he needed it. However, the guards quickly grabbed the six sacrifices and pulled away the preacher.

"Your holiness, we must withdraw and regroup if we are to defeat these heretics. We have many more forces, elsewhere, we only need to rally them!" one of the guards shouted.

He pulled himself together. "No, we will not delay our lord's sacrifice. Quickly, strap them to the lord's holy teeth now!" he commanded. The guards looked incredulous but quickly obeyed.

Just as they were being dragged towards the dragon's teeth, Shepard got his first break. The human guards screamed and died as sniper fire pierced their shields while the Krogan guards staggered as they were also hit. Ashley, Taylor, Brian and Sarah instantly went for the guns of their fallen guards while Ripper and Shepard simultaneously crashed into one of their Krogan guards. Both of them managed to push their respective Krogans off the stage before turning to fight the remaining Krogan. Even with huge sniper wounds, the Krogans were clearly veterans if not battlemasters and it was a testament to Shepard's cybernetics and Ripper's strength that they managed to wrestle the Krogans long enough for the other four sacrifices to free themselves then use their commandeered firearms to pump the two Krogans full of bullets.

"Just like old times isn't it Shepard?" Ashley said as she handed a shotgun to the Spectre. Scantily clad while wielding an assault rifle, Shepard had never seen anything so beautiful.

"You got it Chief. Right down to the part where we face down Saren and put a bullet in his head, twice," he growled as he took the shotgun and turned to face the preacher. The cult leader appeared frightened as his guards had all been taken down by sniper fire. That he himself had not been fire upon was probably due to him being recognisable as the cult leader and the NYPD obviously preferred him alive. Now he was facing his sacrifices whom were all armed and looking murderous.

"This isn't right, this is blasphemy! You are committing sacrilege by not submitting to my lord's will!" the cult leader shouted hysterically.

"As much as I want to put a bullet in your head for desecrating everything that is holy about the church of Jesus Christ, I think seeing you go to trial and eventually the electric chair will be more satisfying," Ashley said angrily.

"Give it up preacher. You have nowhere to run and can't defend yourselves. Surrender now and you might still come out of this alive," Shepard said as he stepped forward with his shotgun aiming at the preacher's chest.

The preacher's face changed instantly again from fear and confusion to a strange blend of euphoric happiness and madness. "That's where you are wrong, you treacherous spawn of Satan!" he screamed and then to Shepard's horror, the preacher's eyes started to glow blue and a few seconds later, his entire body was emanating eezo.

"OPEN FIRE!" Ripper shouted. Indeed, the others didn't need any further prompting. Two assault rifles, two pistols and two shotguns ripped into the preacher but the bullets were all stopped by a shimmering barrier which covered the whole of the preacher's body.

"Ah ah ah," the preacher waved a finger as though admonishing a naughty child. Then he made a pushing gesture which threw all six of them backwards. Taylor, Sarah and Brian were thrown off the stage and hit the wall on the other side, falling down into unconsciousness. Shepard, Ashley and Ripper however were more experienced in fighting biotics and had thrown themselves forward to counter the Throw Force. It still resulted in them being pushed back but at least they were still on the stage. Even sniper fire from the incoming police force failed to pierce the preacher's barrier. Shepard's eyes narrowed. He knew only two biotics powerful enough to generate such strong fields.

"Isn't science not wonderful? Especially when it is provided by your own enemy? The results of Subject Zero experiments are truly a wonder to behold," the preacher said maniacally. Shepard grunted and tried to focus his own biotics but without the implants, he couldn't even create a weak biotic push. So instead, he settled for pumping his shotgun again and again at the preacher. Ripper on the other hand, got on his feet and rushed like a bull towards the preacher. He was fast even without using charge, intent on finishing his meal that was the mad preacher.

But the preacher turned out to be something both had not encountered in some time: a pure combat biotic. He was one who did not use his biotics to supplement his weapons skill: he used biotics completely in combat without needing weapons. His barriers held even as Shepard fired nearly point-blank shots at him while with one hand, he lifted Ripper into the air just as his hands were about to reach for the preacher's throat. He suspended Ripper and left him hanging in the air, seemingly amused by Ripper waving his arms and legs as though trying to swim through the air towards the preacher. Shepard stopped shooting and threw himself at the preacher as well, intent on using the butt of his shotgun to bash through the barrier.

The preacher casually made a downward gesture at Shepard and all of a sudden, the Spectre suddenly felt gravity became so heavy, he literally slammed down to the floor. He then made another gesture and suddenly, Shepard was lifted into the air at an incredibly fast speed. The reason became apparent when he crashed into the body of Ripper, who was slammed downwards at Shepard. Bones cracked and they both fell to the floor, winded and aching.

"I will have my sacrifices Shepard, and you WILL be saved to serve the lord Harbringer," the preacher said as he lifted Shepard again. To Ashley's horror, the preacher was lifting Shepard towards the dragon's teeth. The Alliance Marine then observed something: whenever the preacher did a biotic move, he always looked at his target. She gritted her teeth then launched herself in front of the preacher. The preacher was annoyed when his line of sight was cut off by the muzzle of Ashley's Avenger rifle, which promptly fired a steady of stream of rifle fire at his face. He snarled as he biotically batted aside the rifle, leaving Ashley in his sights, who futilely threw a punch. The preached violently pushed Ashley back, who promptly slammed into Shepard who had gotten up.

"Fine, you can both go together! See you in the arms of Harbinger, Shepard!" the preacher screamed manically. Shepard and Ashley found themselves lifted into the air and moved towards the dragon's teeth. Ripper got up again but before he could do anything else, the preacher made a swatting motion and the vigilante was batted off the stage.

"And now, in front of my flock and the heathens, they will both witness the ultimate triumph of my lord Harbringer: the baptism of COMMANDER SHEPARD!"

"Shepard!" Ashley shouted as she moved away towards her dragon's teeth.

"ASH!" the Spectre quickly used both hands to grip Ashley's left hand, which she then mirrored by gripping Shepard's hand with her other as well. The preacher narrowed his eyes then used a separation gesture. The Spectre and Marine felt that their arms were about to tear off as biotic forces sought to separate the two. They bore the pain with gritted teeth: both were determined not to let each other go and be separated again.

But the biotic power of the priest was not only powerful, it was also precise. Shepard and Ashley were horrified as they felt their fingers being pried open.

"NO! I JUST FOUND YOU AGAIN ! I WON'T LOSE YOU AGAIN" Shepard roared as he fought futilely to maintain his grip on Ashley.

Despite the situation, Ashley felt herself tearing up. "NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY CAPTAIN! OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN!" she screamed as her fingers lost grip.

"ASH!" Shepard screamed as both were hurtled away from each other. He then felt himself slammed to his back at a large metal disk. He could only watch helplessly as the same happened to Ashley.

"LORD! I GIVE YOU SHEPARD!" the mad preacher screamed as he raised his hand for one final gesture.

"ASH, I…." Shepard began.

"I KNOW SKIPPER, I KNOW!" Ashley said as a calm look overtook her, as though accepting her fate.

But before the priest could activate the dragon's teeth that would damn Shepard into an eternity of servitude to the Reapers, the cathedral shook again and this time, a huge part of the wall near the stage exploded outwards. A strange vehicle that looked like a MAKO with a huge drill attaché to its front, roared into the cathedral. It swerved to expose its side to the priest and opened.

Four biotic bolts launched out of the vehicle's opening and slammed into him. The priest screamed as the power of three Warps and one Reave tore at his barrier and even his flesh underneath. His right hand was suddenly crushed inwards, as though it had been engulfed in a massive fist and crushed. At the same time, the biotic connection between the priest and his two victims was severed. Shepard and Ash then found themselves pulled away from the dragon's teeth.

Both stared at the strange vehicle. They were astonished to see a huge Cerberus logo on it, which was promptly superseded as the galaxy's craziest bunch erupted from it.

"KEELAH SELAI! GO GET THEM CHIKITA!"

"I AM KROGAN!"

"EMBRACE ETERNITY!"

"WITH SHEPARD COMMANDER!"

"SCOPED AND DROPPED!"

"BY AMON KIRA! GO NOW TO THE SEA!"

"HA HA!"

"GET OVER HERE!"

"HOLD THE LINE!"

"I'LL DESTROY YOU!"

"THIS WILL PUT IM DOWN!"

"TAKE HIM DOWN!"

To be continued…..

**Author's note**

LOL, I enjoyed that last part immensely. Some of it may not exactly be an appropriate battle cry but what the hell? It's their trademark battlecries either when ordered to do something or finally killing something. The last one is by Miranda and I kind of made it up

Again guys, I ask for your constructive criticism to finish this properly. Also regarding how the cult's base was discovered, please rest assured that I have that covered.


End file.
